Meant To BeVersion Two
by Onira
Summary: Meant To Be, redone, revamped, and all that good stuff. It's much better than the old version... I hope. You be the judge. Reviews are nice. Chapter 11 edited. Read Authors cCorner.
1. Chapter 1

**Meant To Be**

By Onira

**Chapter One : "Let Playtime Begin!"**

The Goddess Erisa sat before her table, chin on one hand looking through papers that hovered in the air before her, vanishing and appearing in time to the flicking of her index finger.

"No. . . No, no. . . Definitely not!" Erisa discarded yet another paper with a soft poof as it disappeared.

Now, Erisa was not exactly a goddess. But she was nothing like a nymph or a demi-goddess. She was one of those little oopses that occurred during the creation of the universe. Since she is perpetually youthful, physically and mentally no older than eight years, she gets bored very easily. The gods gave her earth to play with to keep her occupied. At one point she had a bunch of lizards running around on the earth, but then she got tired of them and threw a big rock at them. For a while she was content with furry things. Then she wanted to see how they would last against the cold. Then she went and created a strange race that survived not by strength or defense, but by intelligence. She even went so far as to give them predators, a lot like humans, but much stronger.

But, alas, she grew bored of that little scenario and decided to make herself the Grand High Match Maker of Japan.

"Grrr. How the heck am I ever going to find a match for this guy!" The goddess threw up her hands in exasperation, falling back into her little cloud-chair.

"No matter how many times I look I can't find a single one!" She swung her hand in frustration and knocked over the pile of papers that she had yet to look through.

"Gah! This is just not my day!" Erisa began to pick up the papers then her eyes fell upon a certain one. Her eyes lit up like a cat's as she dropped all the other papers to read the one in her hand. Her eyes skimmed over the paper and her grin grew. Then she saw one tiny bit of information. Her face transformed completely from happiness to vexation.

"What! Not born for another three hundred years! Come on. Give me a break!" The goddess sat back again and thought for a few moments.

"Wait a second. Why should when she's born matter?" Erisa said, grinning mischievously. She swept all the papers off the table and ran her hand over the glassy marble surface. The patterns in the marble began to change and form themselves into a map of Feudal Japan.

"Now, here's the village. here's the fortress. . . Here's the western lands." Said Erisa, pointing to different places on the map as she named each place.

"Now which legend do I want to use? Umm. . . Nothing comes to mind. Why not create one? There'll be rumors of a great tree and within lays a power source even greater than the Shikon No Tama. Anyone who manages to get inside will be gifted with its powers. But no one has ever made it into this tree."

"Now how am I gonna get this all to work. . . I'll put the tree here. and I'll add this little gem to attract them. . . It's just close enough to there to get him to come. now if I can tie him into all of this. . . I know!" As she spoke she pointed about the map.

"Now, am I forgetting anything? Don't think so. Excellent!" Erisa opened a little drawer in the edge of the table and pulled out two little figurines about the size of chess pieces. One shaped like a tree, and the other in a human-like form.

Erisa gently touched the top of the tree shaped piece and it opened. Erisa placed the human shaped piece inside and put the piece down on the table as other pieces appeared on the marble surface.

Erisa looked satisfactorily over the paper in her hands one last time. It was a description of a girl. The picture on the paper changed as a small number in the text changed. The image went to that of a bit of text, to a baby, to a child, to a sixteen-year-old demon girl. Erisa put the bit of parchment into a drawer in the table and grinned to herself.

"Let playtime begin!"

oOo

The youkai lord looked irritably across his lands. Not that he could see them. The entire area was covered in a thick layer of fog, so thick that you could not see your own hand two feet away.

Sesshoumaru allowed a slight scowl to fly briefly across his face before retreating from the balcony. The taiyoukai walked restlessly about his study. He needed to see to things to the east, but this fog was preventing him traveling. For it was so thick it even blocked his sense of smell.

"Sesshoumaru-SAMA!" The voice of the toad youkai pierced through the dampened air, soon followed by the panicked source of the noise. Jaken ran screaming into the room with a paintbrush wielding Rin hot on his heels.

"Lookit Jaken go Sesshoumaru-sama!" laughed Rin as she chased the terrified toad youkai about the room. Jaken cowered behind Sesshoumaru's hakama and Rin skidded to a halt before the demon lord. The little girl blinked cutely at him and Sesshoumaru allowed the shadow of a smile to cross his face as he stepped aside.

"AHH!" screamed Jaken. "Milord Sesshoumaru-sama! How could you do this to me! Your poor servant who has served you loyally for countless years!" shrieked Jaken as he ran from Rin, who had already started towards the old toad youkai. But he might as well not have uttered a sound, as his words were lost under the volume of Rin's laughter.

Finally Rin pounced on Jaken just as he ran in front of Sesshoumaru and painted the old youkai's face a vibrant bright pink. 'Where did she get that ink? Certainly not in this fortress.' Thought Sesshoumaru as he watched the little girl proceed to paint on Jaken's clothes.

Slowly a faint presence entered Sesshoumaru's senses. The inu youkai turned and looked out at his fog-covered lands, patiently waiting as the presence grew stronger and stronger until it reached that of a youkai with strength equal and somewhat greater than his own. Then, power flared with the presence then dimmed to a steady glow in Sesshoumaru's senses.

The taiyoukai turned to face the still open sliding door to the gardens. He could see a strange shape in the horizon. Sesshoumaru let a hint of a frown adorn his features. He shouldn't be able to see anything. Natural fog didn't clear up during the evening, only in the morning when the sun dries it up.

Sesshoumaru watched as the fog faded at an unnaturally fast rate. Soon revealing the strange shape on the horizon to be a very large tree. Now, it seemed that that was the place from which the presence was emanating. Rin had stopped painting Jaken and stood beside the taiyoukai.

"What is Sesshoumaru-sama looking at?" Asked Rin as she pulled on Sesshoumaru's hakama. The inu youkai looked out at his lands. "Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Nothing." Sesshoumaru made a quick decision then turned to Rin. "Rin. Go play with Jaken. Aisumi!" The last was spoken to a potted plant in the corner. The large leafed plant melted into a young nymph with pale-green tinted skin, long, thin leaves for hair, and short heart shaped ones in place of her ears. She appeared to be dressed in a tight fitting emerald green dress that flowed down to her ankles. But in truth the "dress" was many tiny scale-like leaves that were simply an extension of her body. Aisumii walked over to Sesshoumaru and knelt.

"Yes master, what would you have this unworthy one do?" she stressed "unworthy" with annoyance and distaste. But Sesshoumaru either took no notice, or ignored it. But it was more likely the latter as he was, after all, quite the demon indeed and less than prone to missing things like that.

"Show Rin where more inks can be found and entertain her until I come back." Sesshoumaru turned to the bright pink toad youkai who cowered under a table. "Jaken, you are to stay here." Jaken's eyes bulged to the size of saucers as he clutched the table leg with greater conviction.

Sesshoumaru left the fortress and set out in the direction of the great tree.

oOo

The taiyoukai followed the presence as it grew steadily stronger. The image of the tree became clearer and clearer as the fog continued to lift. When Sesshoumaru came within about a hundred feet of the tree, it became clear to him that the presence was, in fact, from the very center of the tree. He slowed to a graceful stop atop the humongous tree. It was about the same size as a redwood tree, but its bark was smooth and the branches arranged in almost a sphere-like shape. Overall, the tree didn't seem very different than a child's drawing bought to life.

Sesshoumaru could tell easily that this was no ordinary tree. He stood on the very apex of the branches, but his feet did not sink beneath the leaves. He knelt and laid a hand through the greenery. His fingers brushed against smooth bark. As soon as his hand came in contact with the tree, the presence flared and a certain foreboding emanated from the tree, not unlike the feeling you get before making a decision that will change your life. Sesshoumaru gracefully moved from the tree to the other, more natural ones around it. Standing on a branch of a large evergreen tree, he decided something that he probably would regret later.

He didn't want that tree in his lands.

Sesshoumaru leapt from his current/previous perch towards the great tree, extending his claws and loading them with venom all in one motion. The swift and blurred movement was abruptly halted as his claws impacted with and dug into the barrier just behind the leaves.

The acid hissed and boiled away at the bark as he removed his hand from the tree. Sesshoumaru leapt back to his previous standing point and watched the results of his work. Soon the venom faded, leaving seemingly untouched bark behind.

oOo

"Oh! Oops! I forgot. That legend is that it's impossible to get into the tree! Oh no! What now!" The young goddess fretted as the portal before her closed, shrinking into nothing with a small pop.

She twirled a lock of her whitish pink hair around a finger as she frantically thought of what to do.

"Oh I know!" She piped, raising her hands in a gesture of triumph. Immediately after she was clutching a spot on her scalp, ow-ing under her breath, as her hand had still been holding her hair when she had moved it.

oOo

A small drop of venom dripped from the area where it was applied, landing squarely on a small flower. The bloom hissed as it withered and disintegrated. Sesshoumaru's ear twitched slightly, tuning to the soft sound. His gaze soon followed, eyes traveling from the ashes that were once the flower, to a small knothole in the bark of the tree.

Eyes narrowing, he left the treetops and landed expertly at the base of the huge tree. Reaching out to the knothole, he raised a hand to rest it on the knothole, moving slowly downward. About halfway, his claw slipped into the center of the myriad swirl of wood as though there was a hole, sinking in up to his fingertip.

A sound, not unlike a very large lock opening, emitted from the trunk of the tree. Sesshoumaru tried to move, but some unseen force held him fast as a light blue glow crept up from the tip of the taiyoukai's claw to engulf his entire body. In a flash of brilliance, the youkai lord had disappeared from the forest floor

Sesshoumaru reappeared, standing on a smooth, almost slippery vine of wood about three feet wide, but was wider than tall. The branch extended from the inner wall to the very center of the chamber, coming to a point where it and several other branches converged in the middle of the spherical room. The air inside was damp and smelled of foliage and rain. In the very heart of the chamber rested a glowing sphere, which seemed to be the source of the earthy, yet uncanny, green light that illuminated the room. It sized at about eight feet in diameter. Though glowing brightly, the edges of the sphere were sharply defined.

Sesshoumaru slowly approached the object, walking along one of the vine like branches. As he grew closer to the sphere, its boundaries became translucent, revealing an undefined form within it. He reached out with a clawed hand and swung lightly at the boundary, stopping the motion when his hand was halfway in the sphere. He had stopped mostly out of surprise, but also to see what caused his youki to decrease.

The part of his hand that was in the sphere had changed considerably. His claws had vanished, reduced to human nails. The residue of his venom had been "scraped" away by the boundary to fizz briefly just around his wrist before vanishing. Sesshoumaru retracted his hand to find it no different than before he had put it into the sphere.

Finding no lasting harm in the touching the sphere, Sesshoumaru stepped into the orb.

The air inside was nearly opaque, but strangely no different than the air outside. The same scent of trees, foliage, and an undertone of mist and rain lingered in the air, but was stronger than outside.

The taiyoukai made his way through the chamber, following the presence in the center. He soon came to a patch of thinner air, through which he could see. The new ability enabled Sesshoumaru to see a floating form of a young girl in the very center of the orb.

Her ebony hair flowed about her, completely disregarding gravity, as did the rest of her given that she was floating. Her skin was a pale cream color, contrasting intriguingly with her dark locks. Her long slender legs were curled loosely to her front, held slackly in place by her arms, her clawed hands resting gently on her shins. Though her face was partly covered, Sesshoumaru could see the night blue markings that ran from just above her ears, across the top of her cheekbones, and down her face to join at the end of her jaw. As well as two lines of either cheek that started just above her long, elf-like ears and curved in a horizontal arch and turned sharply before reaching her nose and retreating back to her hair just below her earlobe.

Sesshoumaru approached the girl, who was evidently a youkai. He contemplated taking her from her resting place. There was no reason for him to think that it wasn't her that was keeping the tree in existence. He circled her once. . . twice, then stopped to stand at her side. He extended his hand to hover just away from the girl. He hesitated a moment then mentally reprimanded himself for his indecision. As soon as she was securely in his arm, her weight seemingly came back to her, her body pressing gently against his arms. But despite that she was surprisingly light, she only seemed to weigh about as much as a medium sized dog or lynx.

Not long after her weight appeared, the greenish light vanished, as did the tree. Leaving Sesshoumaru standing in the middle of a small clearing with a youkai girl in his arms. The only remainder of the tree was the lingering scent of foliage and mist that made up the youkai girl's scent.


	2. Chapter 2

**Meant To Be**

By Onira

**Chapter Two : "How The Devil?"**

Emerald eyes opened to a darkened room as their owner attempted to move, slightly restricted by the blankets in which she had slept. Ishiru blinked and rubbed her eyes, still no images graced her sight. She let her hands fall from her face, lightly grasping the blanket that rested across her lap.

She heard a movement to her left and turned to try and see the source. But still, the youkai could see nothing.

"Who is the pretty lady Sesshoumaru-sama?" The voice of a child reached her ears but Ishiru could not see the girl. She listened and heard the child's footsteps approach her followed by smooth more graceful sounding steps of a person who, judging by the scent, was both youkai and the entity to whom the little girl had previously spoken.

The area of futon beside her sunk as the little girl hopped onto the bed.

"Hi. Rin is called Rin. What's your name?" Asked Rin as she kneeled beside the youkai girl. Rin watched as emerald eyes fruitlessly tried to seek out her face.

"I am, Ishiru." Ishiru said, then took a moment to puzzle at the fact that she had not known as much before the girl had asked.

"Ishiru. Rin thinks that Ishiru has a pretty name." Rin smiled and turned to her guardian. "Sesshoumaru-sama, where did Sesshoumaru-sama get Ishiru?" The addressed youkai decided not to answer.

"Rin, go play with Jaken. I wish to discuss some things with Ishiru." Rin smiled happily and ran off to find her previously mentioned play-toy.

Sesshoumaru approached Ishiru silently, confusing the youkai girl. 'I can't see him. That scent, it wasn't here before. That means he's still in the room. So where is he?' she turned her head as though to look for him regardless of her lack of sight.

She felt the futon sink again, signifying that whoever this person was, he was sitting next to her. Ishiru felt a hand brush her longish bangs away from her face. She blinked, her confusion mounting.

The hand moved to grasp her chin, holding her face firmly in place. A thumb traced the dark blue markings on her cheeks. Ishiru jerked her face from his grip, glaring indignantly at the demon.

Sesshoumaru examined her eyes. They were a defiant shade of emerald with streaks of silver in them, as though painted by some celestial artist. But through all this, Sesshoumaru noticed that the girl's eyes were unfocused and blank. Almost like they were disconnected from her mind. Although her face showed her annoyance, her eyes did not support it.

"You're blind."

oOo

"Oh no! I forgot the side affects!" Living alone had made the little goddess partial to talking to herself.

"I think it should clear up in about a week. But how will I keep her there until it does?"

"Aha!" The young goddess chirped, going back to her map/table and picking up her Sesshoumaru piece. She tapped his head twice, then set the piece back where it was.

oOo

Sesshoumaru released Ishiru and stood, walking towards the door. He stood just before the panel, his mind a-boil. This girl had piqued his ever-dormant curiosity. She seemed so innocent, almost ignorant of everything a demon her age would have come to know. She had felt no repulsion or disgust, not even arrogance at Rin's presence, only innocent curiosity. Sesshoumaru frowned as he felt a gentle surge of feeling. He paused in his thinking to identify it. It was not liking so to speak, and not love. He snorted mentally at the absurd thought, snickering at the sheer ridiculousness of it. He settled on intense curiosity. He wanted to know more about the young demoness that had so suddenly entered his life.

"You are to stay here and attend to Rin." Was all he said before leaving Ishiru to puzzle as to how she was to find her way around.

oOo

A few days later, Ishiru sat out in the gardens. Dressed simply in a white sleeveless kimono trimmed with forest green and a thin obi of the same color. She "watched" Rin as she chased a small bright blue butterfly around the grassy area that bordered the gardens on all sides.

Though she couldn't really watch the little girl, Ishiru's demonic abilities, that she knew innately, included hearing equivalent to that of a bat's. The little girls laughter was an excellent reference for keeping track of her.

Rin snatched the butterfly off of a small wild flower and hurried back to Ishiru.

"Lookit Ishiru!" Rin said happily, having no idea just how ironic her statement was. For all that Rin could tell, Ishiru could see just fine. "I caught it!" She chirped, plopping down on her knees in front of Ishiru, her torso halfway on the demon girl's lap.

"It's beautiful Rin, but you shouldn't hold it by its wings. Try just letting it sit in your hand." Ishiru took the little girl's wrist and used it to locate her hand, replacing the butterfly in Rin's palm.

"Why not by its wings?" asked Rin, curious to know.

"Because after you touch their wings, they cannot fly."

"Oh, ok." Rin said, studying the butterfly as it sat in her hands, it's wings twitching every so often. "How'd you know that?" Rin asked, her eyes never leaving the patterns of the butterfly's wings. Ishiru blinked in sudden confusion. How on earth HAD she known that?

oOo

Ishiru wandered through Sesshoumaru's vast fortress, having nothing in particular to do. Rin was outside playing with Jaken and Sesshoumaru was somewhere doing whatever he did during the day. The demon lord had told her that she was to attend to Rin, but it seemed that he still had the old toad do a great deal of watching despite that.

She came to a large heavy door, feeling the grain of wood beneath her fingertips. Her sight had returned to light and dark patches, but still she could not see any details or color.

But it seemed that she didn't really need sight. Though she had the claws and various other features of a cat, wolf and falcon, her sense of hearing was just like a bat's. She could "see" using echolocation. Ishiru marveled at this ability and used it whenever possible.

Ishiru pushed open the door, immediately listening for the features of the room within. A sharp ring met her ears from many directions, informing her that there was metal in the room. Under further inspection, she discerned the shape of the metals. Various weapons, standing and on wall-racks, were littered about the room.

Ishiru approached a sword rack and picked up one of the thinner blades. But her perception had not been fine-tuned enough to tell just where to grasp it. As a result, Ishiru took hold of the blade rather than the hilt.

With a sharp intake of breath she released the sword and it clattered to the ground. Ishiru clutched her wrist to stop the flow of blood from her wound. Her magical powers as weak as a kitten in the spring. It would take a while for her to learn how to heal instantly.

Had she not been injured, Ishiru would have noticed the form appear behind her. Sesshoumaru took a hold of her wrist, surprising her into letting go of her bleeding appendage.

Sesshoumaru had been training when Ishiru approached the dojo. Once he detected her presence he had backed into the shadows to watch. He had been pleasantly surprised when she went straight for the weapon racks. For a moment he considered attacking her. Not to harm her per say, but to see her reaction. The scent of blood had startled him out of such thoughts, bringing him silently over to her side.

"Fool. You should not handle things that you do not know how to use." Said the taiyoukai as he examined the wound.

"Why were you in here?"

Ishiru didn't say anything. She was rather embarrassed that he caught her like that. She knew that, as long as Rin had not told him, Sesshoumaru was unaware of her ability to understand anything said to her. So she kept quiet, her head down.

"Answer me." Sesshoumaru commanded. Ishiru kept silent for a moment longer before speaking.

"I had nothing to do. I was exploring, and I ended up in here." She raised her chin slightly. "That is why I am in here." She heard nothing save for Sesshoumaru's heartbeat for several moments.

"Well you've bled on that blade, therefore it is now yours." Said the taiyoukai before heading towards the door. "See Aisumii. You will find her in the East Wing, she will help you with that cut."

oOo

Ishiru winced at Aisumii pulled her hand into obtuse angles to examine the wound. The demoness snorted, dropping Ishiru's hand rather unceremoniously as she turned towards a small chest of drawers. "Idiot. Since you don't know how to heal, I'll have to wrap this up like a human!"

"What a waste of space. . . Can't even heal a minor injury like this. . ." The sprite went to a few of the drawers in her little chamber, taking out bandages and several other salves and such.

"Well I'm sorry for causing you such inconvenience. It doesn't cause me the slightest bit of bother to have my hand cut open." Said Ishiru sarcastically. "Of course I just _have_ scolded about something that can no longer be helped." Aisumii put all the things she had collected down on the table.

"Well if you weren't such a bumbling idiot you wouldn't do things like this at all!" she snapped.

"You think I can help it! Let's see YOU pick up a sword properly without using your eyes!"

"What'd you do? Close your eyes when you picked it up?" asked Aisumii smirking.

Ishiru closed her eyes, struggling with something that was boiling up inside of her. Like raw flame burning inside her veins. This... _witch_, just didn't understand, either that or she could not see that Ishiru was blind. But Sesshoumaru would have told all his staff. Why not her? Or was she just using this as some way to hurt her? Ishiru thought furiously, trying to understand just what she had done to deserve such from Aisumii.

"Can't you see..." said Ishiru through gritted teeth. "...That I can't?" Aisumii didn't look the least bit surprised.

"Oh, is that why you didn't see when Rin came so close to falling into the river?" said Aisumii, going from a different angle this time. "Or when she almost got bitten by that snake?"

"Why are you saying these things? I've done nothing to you!" Ishiru began to raise her voice. Rin had come to mean a lot to the youkai girl and Ishiru constantly berated herself for those rare instances when the child had come close to getting hurt. "Those things may have come close to happening but never did!"

"And what if there's a real emergency. Say some demon is trying to eat poor defenseless little Rin. What will you do? You can't see it to attack it. Even if your abilities were good enough." Aisumii mocked.

Ishiru turned her head down and clenched both hands into fists, her claws digging into her palms deepening her wound and creating new ones. But she took little heed of them. All her concentration was going to controlling the white-hot rage that boiled fervently in her blood.

"Thought so." Said Aisumii with a triumphant smirk. But the woman's words broke through Ishiru's concentration. Anger took her control of her arm and Ishiru lashed out at Aisumii.

Faster than light, her claws extended and struck Aisumii across the face, leaving four bloody gashes and knocking the demoness over. Ishiru looked at her hand, her eyes tinted with red. Turquoise blood covered the four fingers that had struck Aisumii. Ishiru, still in the throes of her anger, calmly picked up a square of bandage and cleaned the blood from her hand.

As soon as she set down the now dirtied square of cloth, Ishiru's anger faded. She stepped back, looking at Aisumii who lay on the floor holding her cheek where she had struck. Ishiru shuddered briefly and hurriedly left the room heading straight for her own chambers. As soon as she reached her room, Ishiru sat down heavily on the bed.

"Now what do I do." Wondered the youkai aloud. An idea came into her head and Ishiru stood up. The walls sounded hollow and one spot was particularly thin. Ishiru walked over to the thin area and knocked. She had heard soft footsteps within the walls a few days ago. Perhaps whoever made them was there again.

"Is anyone in there?" as she expected, the section of wall opened and a small demon boy came out. The child was dressed simply in a cloth that was slung over his shoulder and was much to big for him.

"Yes Ma'am, what can I do for ye." Asked the child.

"Um, I need some bandages and such for wounds like these." Ishiru showed the little boy the cuts on her palms.

"Oh." The boy's eyes widened. "Yes Ma'am. I be back 'soon as I can." With that the child vanished and the door closed.

Ishiru sat back on the bed. Not to long after the boy returned with her requested items and left again just as fast.

Soon after Ishiru had adequately cleaned and wrapped her hands, then set off to find Sesshoumaru. 'Ooh! I'll prove that witch wrong. I'll be the greatest youkai there ever was. Then no one will be able to call me weak.' She thought furiously as she walked through the halls to Sesshoumaru's study.

oOo

Sesshoumaru reclined in afore mentioned study, seemingly looking over some papers. But in truth his thoughts were of the strange youkai who had inhabited his home for the past three days.

So far she had taken good care of Rin. But Aisumii had told him that her sight had come to inhibit her care of the little girl that he had come to care for.

"Her lack of training could lead to a real disaster if you weren't here to defend her and Rin should a youkai make it's way to the fortress and attack such an easy meal."

Sesshoumaru's sensitive ears picked up the sounds of Ishiru's footfalls well before she came. Again, he made a quick and critical decision, yet this one he was less likely to regret. Sesshoumaru stood up and headed towards Ishiru.

He met her quite soon after he left his study. Her posture radiated determination. Though slightly lacking, her eyes also showed her resolve as well. Ishiru stopped just in front of the taiyoukai and was about to speak when Sesshoumaru placed a single fingertip on her lips shushing her.

"You start training tomorrow morning." Was all he said before turning around and heading back to his study. Now maybe he'd be able to get some work done.

Ishiru blinked in confusion. How the devil had he known what she was going to say?

oOo

Ishiru woke up to something standing on her chest, and whatever it was, it smelt terrible! She opened her eyes to a disturbing sight of Jaken.

"Get up wench." Snapped the toad youkai. Ishiru blinked at him. Then her eyebrow twitched ominously.

"GET OFF ME!" She dumped Jaken off her front and delivered a swift right cross to his oversized noggin, effectively knocking Jaken off her bed at incredible speed to crash soundly into the door, knocking it open, then slamming into the parallel wall.

Ishiru got up, heedless of her minute clothing of a white rib length sleeveless shirt and a loose white skirt that made up her sleeping garment, and slammed the door shut leaving a swirly-eyed Jaken still imbedded in the wall across the hallway.

Ishiru went briefly through her closet and found the outfit that the seamstress had made for her for her training. It was a somewhat overlarge haori-like garment, meant to be worn alone that tied at the waist. The fabric came down to some point halfway down her thighs.

She put on the haori and tied her hair back, thinking it might be less of a hassle just to cut it. She opened her door to find Jaken attempting to work himself out of the wall with little success. Ishiru studied him for a moment, then turned to the left and punched him further into the wall as she passed.

Needless to say, she was by no means a morning person.

After many errors, but not so many as Ishiru expected, Ishiru found the big wooden door of the dojo. It surprised her that she could tell that the door was a deep red in color, as well as the fact that she could see the deeper and more vibrant colors around her. She listened intently for any sign of movement inside the room, after finding none she heaved the door ajar and went in.

Ishiru followed her senses back towards the sword rack. One gave off the sharp strangely metallic scent of her blood, naming it hers. Ishiru touched the flat of the blade tracing it up to the hilt. Gripping it firmly, she wrested it from the rack and hefted it securely in two hands.

"It will be a long time yet before you learn to use a blade." Sesshoumaru's voice drifted over from the far corner of the large room. Ishiru whirled to face him, thinking to herself, 'And the sooner I can protect Rin."

"Then I'd like to get started. The sooner I get better the sooner I can use one." Ishiru said defiantly.

Thence after, for the entire day, Ishiru trained. By midday, Ishiru was nearly spent. Sesshoumaru had her running for over an hour with no breaks, three times around the entire fortress. After which the two of them sparred. Sesshoumaru was not exactly the kindest of teachers and Ishiru found herself crawling out of the wall more than once.

Needless to say, she was exhausted. When Sesshoumaru called for a break, Ishiru heaved a heavy sigh of relief as she flopped down on the training ground floor. He handed her a leather flask and Ishiru drained it in nearly one gulp, half choking in the process. If Sesshoumaru noticed, he said nothing.

The afore mentioned taiyoukai walked to the other side of the dojo and leaned against the wall to watch Ishiru. 'She has unbelievable endurance for someone who had never trained.' He thought as he watched her massage her sore leg and arm muscles. Sesshoumaru took a moment to be surprised at her actions. His usual sparring partners would just lie on the dojo floor panting during breaks.

Ishiru stretched one last time then stood up. She walked along side the multitude of racks, each holding a different kind of weapon. She soon spotted two kinds that peaked her interest.

One was a long metal staff with an elongated ax blade at the end and the end sharpened to a fine point. The other was one that was entirely unfamiliar to her. It consisted of two small, wickedly curved blades, and one larger one which was connected to the other two on either side by means of two five inch long bars wrapped in leather and held in place with spiraling metallic strips.

She firmly took the upper most handle in her hand and picked up the weapon. It was surprisingly light, considering it's bulk. Ishiru hefted it a couple of times in one hand before taking the other handle in her remaining palm. She moved it a few times through the air then put it back on the rack.

"Sesshoumaru, could I learn to use this?" she asked over her shoulder.

"You could." He said noncommittally. Ishiru grinned, that was as close to a yes as she would ever get.

"Thank you!"

"But not until you finish training without weapons." He reprimanded, causing Ishiru to abruptly deflate.


	3. Chapter 3

**Meant To Be**

By Onira

**Chapter Three : "Yes…"**

Ishiru spun the exotic weapon she had seen before, her feet braced wide to give her leverage. She brought it down in a graceful arc, controlling her speed and hit force so not to break the wooden floor of the dojo. No matter what anyone said, Ishiru thought that it was harder to control her speed than maximize it. She whirled and slashed, striking down multitudes of imaginary opponents.

Sesshoumaru watched her from the door. His eyes followed the path of her weapon, judging the amount of force that she would put behind each blow. He watched her as she flew about the dojo. She was so engrossed in her imaginary battle she didn't notice him. She would have to work on that. He made a mental note to tell her later.

Ishiru followed an imaginary opponent on the vaguely colored plain of her eyesight. Her sight had come back to the point that she could see things near her, and brightly colored things. Surprisingly, she could see better at night.

She was about to make a final swing when her weapon was jerked from her grip. She looked around wildly, but saw only the few feet in front and around her. It was empty.

Ishiru growled and took in a deep breath of air. Before she could analyze the array of scents that she received, a pair of strong hands closed around her wrists. The person molded her body to his, guiding her into place.

"Watch your stance." Sesshoumaru said from behind her. Ishiru pouted for a moment then tightened her muscles, keeping the stance on her own. Sesshoumaru released her, returning her weapon, and moved to stand in front of the demoness.

"Now you will fight a real opponent." He said, slipping into stance. Ishiru nodded and gripped the exotic blade tighter. "Without weapons." Sesshoumaru's voice gave only a hint of reprimand, but that was enough for Ishiru to pick up. She calculated the location of the weapon rack and hurled the arched blade accordingly. It clanged resoundingly into place properly resting in its rack.

Ishiru corrected her stance and faced Sesshoumaru, bringing her hands up, claws slightly extended. She waited, but not for long. Sesshoumaru darted at her, striking without his claws. Ishiru moved to the side just enough to avoid his hand. Had she seen him sooner, she would have been able to avoid the strike from his other hand.

Ishiru darted back, using the momentum from the blow to make it look like she hadn't been hit. Sesshoumaru knew otherwise of course, but he had taught her not to act like she was, or had been, hit. Ishiru darted back towards Sesshoumaru, her claws extending.

She struck, but hit nothing but air. She easily compensated for the lack of impact. Easily only because she had been training without an opponent, so she didn't need to make an impact to keep her balance. Her muscles tightened as she whirled around after Sesshoumaru's rapidly moving form, striking out with her claws in which weak venom had begun to form.

He darted out of her vision range and Ishiru slipped back into stance, holding her claws at ready. A slight breeze brushed by her side and Ishiru swung around to her left. She felt a soft impact, like the tearing of cloth and heard the gentle shredding sound of her claws slicing through fabric.

"I got you." Ishiru said firmly, sure of her statement. She waited, listening intently for any sign of Sesshoumaru's location.

Sesshoumaru stood silently at what he knew was just outside of her sight range. She had sliced through the front of his armor and through his haori. A shattered fragment of his armor rested precariously on the broken edge of his breastplate. It teetered and fell, landing with a barely audible clunk on the dojo floor.

Ishiru didn't move for a moment, and then in a flash of motion she had her claws at Sesshoumaru's throat, grinning slightly. Sesshoumaru stood still, taking just what had transpired in the preceding instant. She had heard the sound of the crumb sized piece of armor fall to the ground, and deduced his position, as well as calculating her movements and other such tactics of battle, and all in that little moment.

oOo

Erisa's eyes lit up as she watched the scenario. She shook the stardust off her hands and got up out of her bath, which was not much different from a dense cluster of stars, poured into a tub of sorts. She leaned over the edge of the tub to her table and tapped lightly on the marble edge. It zoomed in on one part. Erisa looked about the Western Fortress and found the dojo, then picked up a little piece, shaped like a little girl, and put it at the doorway.

Erisa grinned and opened a portal so she could watch.

oOo

It was at that moment that the door creaked open. Rin peeked in, ignoring the commands of the toad, who was still somewhat pinkish. She saw something that she didn't really expect.

Sesshoumaru stood in the center of the dojo floor. Ishiru stood in front him, well not really in front of him. She was nearly spread out along his body, using him as a support for she was standing on her tiptoes. Her claws WERE indeed at his throat, but Rin, being ignorant of most things violent, overlooked that. The tip of Ishiru's nose just barely touched his jaw, simply from how she stood.

To Rin, it looked like they were hugging. She pushed open the door the rest of the way and ran over.

Both Sesshoumaru and Ishiru heard Rin as soon as she really entered the room and abandoned their previous arrangement. Rin stopped in front of them and smiled up at Ishiru.

"Is Ishiru going to be Rin's mother?" She asked, smiling hopefully. Ishiru fought the blush that rose to her cheeks, but only toned it down to a light sprinkling of pink, instead of the beet red that wanted to surface.

Before Sesshoumaru could say something that would disappoint Rin, Ishiru knelt and looked at Rin, who was now within her sight range.

"Rin, do you want me to be your mother?" She asked, looking the child in the eyes.

"Yes! I want you to be Rin's mommy and Sesshoumaru can be Rin's daddy! And then Rin would have brothers and sisters!" Rin said. Ishiru hugged Rin to hide her blush, even if she wasn't quite sure why she blushed.

Sesshoumaru had taught her the basic rolls of family when she had asked him what "mother" meant, having heard Rin say it. She knew that the mother and father in a family were to share a very strong bond, one that Ishiru wasn't sure she wanted to have with anyone. To be bound to someone, forever. Forever was a very long time.

"I'd love to be your mother, but I don't know what Sesshoumaru would say about it." Ishiru released Rin and looked at Sesshoumaru with a look that clearly said. "Say something dedicated and I will make your life a living hell." In other words, don't give her a real answer. Sesshoumaru was silent for a moment.

"Perchance Rin." Was all he said, but it seemed to satisfy Rin, who promptly ran over to hug Sesshoumaru around the legs.

"Yay! Rin is going to play outside. Will Ishiru come too?" Rin looked at Ishiru hopefully, who looked up at Sesshoumaru, standing up.

"May I put my training on hold to go with Rin?" She asked. Sesshoumaru nodded. Ishiru took Rin's hand and headed out to the garden.

oOo

Ishiru walked about the gardens with Rin. The little girl ran off at random intervals to pick a flower or chase a butterfly. Ishiru felt strangely on edge. Like something was about to happen. She brushed it off and kept walking. Rin tugged on Ishiru's pant leg, gaining the youkai girl's attention.

"Yes, Rin? What is it?" She looked down at the little human. Rin pointed at a flower on a high bush.

"What kind of flower is that?" Rin asked. "Rin has never seen that flower before." Ishiru looked for the flower that Rin was talking about. "Which flower Rin?" Rin led the girl over to the bush and pointed up.

"That one." It was a scarlet, day-lily type of flower with white streaks coming from its center.

"I don't know Rin-chan." Ishiru knelt. "Would you like to see it better?" Rin nodded and Ishiru stood again, her slender fingers gently grasping the stem at the base of the bloom. She felt a sharp prick on her fingertip and pulled her hand away.

It wouldn't come free of the tempting bloom. She froze and felt the flower melt into a hand, the body to which the hand belonged hidden in the bush. Ishiru jerked her hand from their grasp.

"Rin, go back to the fortress." She said, trying to hide what was really going on.

"Why? What's wrong?" Rin asked.

"Take your flowers to Sesshoumaru, ok Rin?" Ishiru lightly turned the girl towards the path.

"Okay." Rin said, heading up the path towards the fortress, her steps quickening.

Ishiru turned back to the "flower" as soon as Rin was out of sight. The owner of the hand had come out of the bush. A plant user youkai stood before her, grinning at her. 'So that's why I didn't scent him. He smells like the plants.' Ishiru stepped into a defensive stance, automatically correcting it. She smiled inwardly, remembering how many times she had been reprimanded about her stance. The shape changer grinned, baring a fang.

He lunged at her; Ishiru sidestepped him, drawing a dagger from her obi. He vanished from her sight range and she altered her stance to be ready to strike.

The youkai studied her. Why didn't she attack him? What was she waiting for? The youkai tossed aside his hesitation and moved behind her before darting back towards her. Ishiru dodged in time to avoid being gored on his needle-like claws. But she earned a stinging scratch on her side for her lack of sight.

Ishiru whirled before he could leave her sight again, thrusting her dagger into his side. The plant user growled, knocking her hand away and taking the dagger from his side. He stood a ways away, easily out of Ishiru's sight range. The youkai girl fell back into her stance and waited.

"Why do you not attack me?" Asked the plant user. "Truly, it disheartens the great Otsuma to have someone who makes so few advances for an opponent." He said, tilting his head to the side.

"It's not your concern. Your battle is with me, and with me it shall be finished." She said, darting towards him, using his voice as a locator. Her claws extended, burying themselves into his chest before releasing mild venom. Her venom was not yet potent enough to do any immediate damage, but it would slow him down. She used him as a springboard to back away before Otsuma could make a counterattack.

Otsuma stood there, grinning. Ishiru narrowed her eyes and saw his features. She frowned. 'Why is he smiling when he is wounded?' She thought.

A small flurry of leaves surrounded his wound and filled it, renewing the mangled flesh. Ishiru's sensitive hearing picked up the sound of the little leaves, then put some of her jyaki into temporarily extending her sight range. It was a difficult trick for her, but she saw that he had healed. 'How can I defeat him if he can just heal like that?' Ishiru thought, her mind scrambling for a solution.

"Indeed this battle will finish. But it will be I who emerged victorious, and that girl will be my next meal." Ostuma said, indicating Rin with a slight nod of his head. The girl was still heading up the path.

Ishiru blanched. She couldn't let him eat Rin! Again using his voice, she struck at him. This time, coating her hand with what was for now, the strongest of her venom. The flesh of Otsuma's torso burned and hissed at the venom. Otsuma grimaced and stepped back.

"So. You can't heal from my venom." Ishiru said. 'Maybe I can defeat him.' She thought. Just as she finished her thought, Otsuma snarled and crashed into her. He pinned her against the wall by her wrists. Ishiru let her venom coat her hands and flow down her wrists into Otsuma's hands. The plant user's flesh hissed briefly, but wasn't harmed. 'No! I can't be out of venom already!' Ishiru thought, slightly panicked. 'Gods, if I hadn't used any in training today!"

Otsuma grinned. Vines grew from the wall and bound Ishiru's wrists. The youkai girl struck out with her legs, landing a solid kick on Otsuma's chest. He was knocked back a few yards.

"Keep your slimy hands off me!" She snapped. Otsuma stood up, growling.

"You'll pay for that, you animal-youkai bitch." He balled his hand into a fist and struck her midsection. Ishiru let out a yelp.

The little servant boy from Ishiru's room turned looked to the left of his path at the sound of a yelp. Yoji went over to the source of the yelp and saw Ishiru tied to the stone garden wall, Otsuma beating her.

Yoji backed away with a gasp. He had to get help. The sparrow youkai child focused on his youki and his body altered to that of a sparrow. Quick as a flash, the boy flew up to the fortress.

Yoji lost his shape as he landed on a balcony, breathless from the flight. He ran inside to find his master at his desk. The boy dropped to his knees and bowed his head.

"Please forgive me, Master. But there is a youkai out in the gardens who is attacking milady Ishiru." He said, trying not to anger his master.

He heard Sesshoumaru stand up from his desk. Yoji flinched, waiting for a reprimand. Instead, a light breeze blew past him. Yoji looked up and saw that Sesshoumaru was gone. The boy turned around to look out the balcony.

oOo

Sesshoumaru flew over the gardens. He made note of Rin who was just entering the fortress. But he kept going. It wasn't Rin he was looking for, but her caretaker Ishiru. He picked up her scent, and that of a plant user youkai. Sesshoumaru sped up, his youki swirling around his feet.

He soon reached them. But Sesshoumaru did not interfere. Instead, he drew his scent and aura from around him and stood a ways away, where he could see, but could not be seen. He would help her, only if she truly needed it. He moved so he was able to see the two, just in time to see a massive vine pierce just below Ishiru's collarbone.

Otsuma had stopped striking Ishiru and had resorted to using his plants to make many small cuts along her arms, beginning to bleed her dry. A massive vine sprung from the ground and dug into and through her shoulder. Ishiru bit back a shout as the vines on her wrists released her, leaving all her weight on the vine through her shoulder.

Ishiru was pulled into the air as the vine grew to become level with the canopy. Ishiru growled, glaring at Otsuma. She dug her claws into the vine, tearing through it. She landed at the top of a wall of earth and tore the rest of the vine from her shoulder. It writhed in her hand, wearing away at the skin of her palm. Ishiru looked from the vine to Otsuma. The vine wrapped around her hand and began to tear at the skin of her wrist.

Ishiru growled and leapt at Otsuma. She collided with the plant user, burying her hand into his chest, with the vine held tightly in her claws. Ishiru released the vine inside his chest cavity and leapt away. She stabilized herself on the wall, glaring at Otsuma. A flurry of leaves signified that the wound had healed over the vine, which was now loose inside of him. The vine writhed inside his body, tearing at what flesh it could reach, as it was created to do. Ostuma's eyes widened in realization.

"You!" His voice was cut off as the vine tore through his chest and throat. Ishiru just watched, glaring bitterly, as he was devoured by his own creation. Even when his body was gone, the vine continued to tear at the surrounding foliage.

Ishiru scowled and walked over to the squirming vine. She looked at the vine distastefully. In a flash of movement, she grabbed it, releasing what little venom had formed during the battle, her body stimulated into a high-producing state by blood loss and battle-hype. A growl spilled form her throat as it wore away at the minimal flesh of her hand, even whilst her venom disintegrated it.

She let her hand fall to her side. Ishiru looked down at herself. She was covered in her own blood, and though it couldn't be seen beneath the grime, she was covered in bruises, lacerations, and other various injuries.

"I guess I had some venom left after all..." Ishiru dropped to her knee, then fell over. Her body curled forward in a graceful arc as she tumbled over herself to the ground.

Sesshoumaru came out from concealment in the foliage and knelt next to Ishiru. He turned her over and picked her up with one arm curling under her back and the undersides of her legs, as he would do with Rin. Ishiru woke up briefly. Gold and silver met her eyes and she blinked, brining the image into slightly better focus. She saw what she thought was Sesshoumaru's face.

"You... You came, to save... Me?" She said before falling unconscious again. Sesshoumaru looked down at her for a moment.

"...Yes."


	4. Chapter 4

**Meant To Be**

By Onira

**Chapter Four : "I Can See It!"**

Sesshoumaru carried Ishiru back to the fortress. As soon as he arrived, Rin came from around the hall with flowers in her hands.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, what happened to Ishiru?" Rin ran up to him. She hopped a little, trying to see Ishiru.

"She will be fine Rin. Ask Aisumii for more paints and go find Jaken." The taiyoukai said and Rin scampered off, giggling at the thought of tormenting her favorite play-toy.

Sesshoumaru reached Ishiru's room and lay her down on the futon. He noticed the bandages on the table. They lacked any scent but Ishiru's and that of the servant boy that saw to her room. 'So, she doesn't like Aisumii.' He picked up the rest of the bandages and brought them over to the futon.

He untied the thin white obi at her waist and took her arm from its sleeve, exposing her wounded shoulder. He shoved aside his rising instincts at her newly revealed skin and bound her shoulder. This was hardly the time. Besides, why was he even thinking about that? He did not desire the girl. She may be slender, but her body looked somewhat underdeveloped, childlike. Her bust was small, atypical of the area. Her hips were full, but not curvy or matronly in any way. Sesshoumaru shook his head briskly, turning his mind back to his task. Ishiru's expression became pained as the bindings tightened from Sesshoumaru's tenseness. Sesshoumaru stopped for a moment, calming his hand and loosening the bandages.

He finished her shoulder and set about her hands, which had been scraped to the point of bleeding. Just as he was finishing, Aisumii stepped silently into the room.

"Master... Why did you not call on me to take care of her?" Aisumii knelt a safe distance away from Sesshoumaru.

"It is not your concern what this Sesshoumaru does." He said, standing up. "Go find Rin. Make sure she is occupied." Sesshoumaru got a salve from the table and went back to Ishiru as Aisumii left the room.

Ishiru's dream went in strange directions. She thought she had heard Sesshoumaru say that he had come to save her! No way that could have been real. She fell deeper into the recesses of her mind.

oOo

She saw a little girl running down cobblestone streets, the buildings looked a lot like they did in Sengoku Jidai. But they were somewhat more uniform. The boards matched up perfectly in width and height. She was in the time period about three hundred years later then Sengoku Jidai, the Edo Period.

The little girl ran around all the buildings until she came to a field hidden from the town's sight. She took a deep breath and smiled. She spread her arms and her body glowed a faint blue as she gained demonic features. Lines drew their ways across her cheeks and her ears elongated as dainty claws replaced her nails. Ishiru realized that the little girl... 'That's me!' She thought and tried to go to the child. But she couldn't move. Her body ached and her shoulder practically burned in pain. Her vision of the little girl vanished, replaced with darkness.

She felt something cool sliding into her arms, banishing her pain as it flowed through her veins into the rest of her body. Ishiru felt her mind slipping into consciousness and gripped her dream for a moment longer before surrendering to reality. She lay on her futon, her eyes still closed. She felt someone's hands gently massaging her arms. A cool substance was being spread along her aching muscles by gentle fingers. Ishiru didn't open her eyes. She just lay there, enjoying the feeling.

Sesshoumaru could tell she was awake. Her heart rate had increased enough to state as much. But he kept working the salve into her arms, wondering vaguely when she would realize that only half of her torso was covered.

oOo

"Well you know. That's not a bad idea." Erisa said, reading Sesshoumaru's thoughts. She picked up the "chess piece" that represented Ishiru and prodded gently at it before placing it back on the table. As she set down the piece, she realized what Ishiru had been dreaming.

"Ack!" She jumped from her chair. "She's remembering her future life!" Erisa paced in front of her table, trying to think.

oOo

Ishiru shifted a little and felt a slight lack of sensation on the left half of her torso. She couldn't feel her shirt there at all. She woke up a little more. 'Wait, what?' She opened her eyes and tried to move. But her muscles wouldn't respond. She looked around the reaches of her sight and saw Sesshoumaru next to her.

"You..." She said, struggling to find appropriate words. Sesshoumaru sealed a hand over her mouth before she could shout at him.

"Would you rather have Aisumii treat you? Or perhaps, not be treated at all...?" Ishiru still glared at him. "I will remove my hand, only if you do not shout." Sesshoumaru stated coolly. Ishiru was confused, unsure why he thought she would shout, but nodded and Sesshoumaru took his hand from over her mouth.

"Why can't I move?" She asked, and after several moments of no response, repeated the question. Sesshoumaru grinned inwardly and said nothing. She pouted in a child-like way and opened her mouth to snap at him. Then she remembered her promise not to shout at him and shut her mouth, blushing at her exposure.

Ishiru fought to stay annoyed at him as his hands worked the soreness from her muscles. She sighed and gave up retaining her frustration. He slowly worked his way up her arm, the movement in her fingers returning. She lightly moved her clawed fingers against the sheets, experimenting.

"If you move too much before your muscles have had a chance to rest, you will take even longer to recover completely." Sesshoumaru reprimanded, his hands reaching her shoulders. Ishiru pouted a little, but stopped moving. He was right... She had stressed her muscles too much and if she used them now, they would only take longer to heal. She closed her eyes and let herself fully relax as Sesshoumaru began to work the salve into the flesh around the base of her neck.

He mentally smirked. She was practically falling asleep under his hands. Her eyes closed and her breathing slowed to an inhuman rate. But then, she wasn't human so Sesshoumaru didn't think anything of it. But he did begin to worry when her pulse began to decrease. The bandages on her shoulder began to smoke lightly and Sesshoumaru removed them, revealing the wound beneath to be frothing with some kind of venom. He gave the wound a quick visual examination before determining that the venom was Ishiru's own.

Otsuma had cut a main artery that carried her venom to her hands. And now she was being intoxicated by her own poisons. Sesshoumaru mentally swore and sealed his hand over the wound, releasing a mild form of his own venom. Ishiru let out her breath in a feral hiss, her hands tensing as her claws extended and she convulsed, still miraculously unconscious. Her back curled, her chin pulled into her chest as her body rebelled the venom, her poisons fighting with Sesshoumaru's.

He growled in the back of his throat and let a bit stronger venom seep from his palm. Her venom sizzled and died, leaving way for his to clean out the wound. Ishiru fell back into the bed, her body too tortured to take anything more and she fell into a deep sleep.

Sesshoumaru heard her heart rate slow again, and then relaxed when it maintained its speed. He rebound her wounds and left the salve by her bed as he stood up. He would have to rebegin the treatment of her muscles with it when she woke up. Sesshoumaru quietly closed the door behind him and stood outside her room.

Why was he so concerned with her well being anyway? And why did it bother him to have another treat her!

oOo

Ishiru slept only until sundown. Almost as soon as the sun drifted beneath the horizon, her emerald eyes fluttered open to see the final indigo dregs of the sunset. She tried to roll over onto her back and go back to sleep, but she couldn't move. 'Not again.' She grumbled mentally and stared out the window.

The stars came out and the moon rose and passed her window. Still Ishiru lay awake in her bed, her eyes wandering around her line of sight. When the moon crossed her window, she could tell that there was a light shining on her, and couldn't fall asleep. Now she couldn't fall asleep altogether. She whimpered and rolled onto her side, then froze. She could move again!

'I'd better not overdo it. Or I'll end up stuck somewhere.' Ishiru thought as she slowly slipped out from under the blanket. She sat on the edge of the futon, taking a breather. Even from the small movement of getting out of bed exhausted her. She pouted in annoyance and frustration at the darkness and noticed a shimmer in the corner of her vision. She looked to find to bottle on her bedside table. Ishiru picked it up and sniffed it gingerly. It had the same scent as the salve that Sesshoumaru had used on her earlier. She shrugged and opened the bottle, then began working the stuff into her hands first, then up her arms and so on.

Once she had finished, Ishiru felt much better than she had since she had arisen earlier that day. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered how it would have felt if Sesshoumaru had done it. She had been so out of it before she could not remember very well. She stood up, somewhat shakily and made her way across the room to her window. Ishiru leaned heavily on the sill for support before starting back along the wall.

She felt her knees about to give out and grabbed onto the wall for support. The panel of the wall slipped to the side. Ishiru looked at her hand, mildly confused. 'Was that there before? The servants door is over there...' Ishiru looked to the other side of the room, confirming the thoughts. She listened to the air currents behind and around the door. The door would work; she smelt no rust or rotting wood to suggest that it was broken.

Ishiru turned the handle and silently pushed the door open. Silent to her ears was nonexistent to any other. She crept into the room; careful to monitor her strength and make sure she wouldn't collapse. She slid down the wall a little ways into the room to rest. Her chest heaved and her mouth was open in a silent pant. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back against the wall. Ishiru took in a deep breath, then froze as a familiar scent met her senses. She opened her eyes and slowly turned her head to the side. Carefully she stood up, then padded silently across the room to stand beside the object of her fascination.

The moonlight fell across his elegant features, lighting his silver hair with a celestial shimmer. Ishiru let herself fall to her knees. 'To conserve energy' She excused her actions mentally, denying the real reason. She studied his features. In sleep, he looked so like an angel. Her hand lifted of its own accord and gently rested her fingers on his cheek. Ishiru froze, waiting for him to wake up. She held her breath as he moved ever so slightly in his sleep, his skin brushing against her hand. But he didn't wake.

Ishiru let out her breath in a gentle sigh. Half of her mind said that she should just go back to her room and go to sleep. But the other half wanted to stay right where she was. Ishiru went with the second. He looked so beautiful, for lack of better word, lying there in the moonlight. She didn't want to leave until she absolutely had to. Ishiru tuned her ears to this heartbeat. She wouldn't leave until she really had to sleep, or he woke up. His heart rate would tell her when he would wake up.

Her hand, still resting on his cheek, gently traced the deep red markings on his cheeks, then trailed up to lightly stroke his ear. She felt him stir and his heartbeat speed up slightly. Ishiru stood up, her hand sliding reluctantly from his face. Moonlight danced in the corner of her eye and Ishiru turned to look out Sesshoumaru's window. She walked over to the window, resting her arms on the sill.

'It's so beautiful. . .' Ishiru thought dreamily, then snapped out of her thoughts as something occurred to her. 'I can see it!'

The night air was clearer and more crystalline than diamond, such as which the stars shone, radiating their brilliance down on the land below. The fortress was built on the side of a cliff, looking out on the valley and giving a splendid view of the mountains miles away. Ishiru caught her breath of the sight of the land bathed in moonlight. The markings on her cheeks sparkled in the moonlight, a small gem briefly becoming visible on her forehead before vanishing once again.

oOo

Kanna knelt before her lord, her eyes blank as her small hands rotated her mirror, altering the image within. The mirror lit up, then crackled with blue-white electric light. Kanna did not flinch as her master looked on with moderate indifference. Naraku watched not his servant, but the image within her mirror. Ishiru stood in the window, the gem flashed with untold power on her forehead as the moonlight angled into it perfectly, causing it to shimmer with indigo and blue light.

Naraku memorized the girl's face. Even through the mirror, he could sense the power of the jewel in her forehead. To take it from her may prove to be another task, but he would find a way, just like he would find her. He would have her jewel, that power she possessed. . . Yes, he would have the girl.

As his thoughts became more and more malevolent, the air around Naraku began to darken, laden with his aura. It spread into the clear skies, forming dark thunderclouds, which spread across the bespeckled sheet of the night.

oOo

A shadow fell over Ishiru's face as a dark storm cloud covered the moon. The scent of rain filled her senses as she took a deep breath of the night air. She sighed, looking out on the land. She could practically see the rain coming closer. Then a drop landed soundly on her nose. She wiggled said appendage and wiped away the water as she backed up from the window, closing the glass shutters. How the shutters worked exactly, would remain a mystery to her for a long time to come. As soon as her hands left the glass, the edges of the shutters melded together and sealed into one pane of glass.

Ishiru watched the rain hammer against the glass of the window, creating a soothing drumbeat. She stepped back to stand at the side of Sesshoumaru's futon. She sat down gently, careful not to disturb him. Her eyes began to droop as the rhythm of the rain worked its way into her mind. She slowly, and unintentionally, lay down on the bed, facing Sesshoumaru, drifting slowly asleep.

Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru's dreams were taking strange courses. He stood in an indigo void, no walls, no objects, not a single scent, and it was cold. He looked around, then caught a familiar scent of forests and mist. A figure began to appear in the darkness. Slowly Ishiru came into focus and walked to him. She said nothing, but reached up and lightly touched his cheek, her fingertips lightly tracing his demonic markings.

Something surfaced briefly inside his chest, filling him with warmth and something akin to happiness. Before he had a chance to figure out what it was, the feeling vanished, squished by the dominant part of him, outside of his heart. Ishiru's hand left his face as she faded out of his sight. Sesshoumaru stepped forward, his hand nearly reaching out from his side. . . Nearly.

The young demoness came back into view. Her eyes held something he had never seen before. Fear, she was afraid. Of what? Sesshoumaru looked around, then back at her. She looked straight at him. For a moment Sesshoumaru was stunned. Why was she afraid of him? Then he saw her eyes following a form separate from him.

Black shouki gathered around Ishiru's feet, then bloated and flowed around her forming a thick, undulating wall. Ishiru reached out to him, then pulled her hand back as a shadowy form appeared before her. Sesshoumaru couldn't see, or smell the newcomer. But he could tell well enough, his intent.

Sesshoumaru struck at the shadow being, and hit nothing but air. Both Ishiru and the shadow had vanished. Sesshoumaru heard a voice, Ishiru's voice, but it seemed so far off in the distance. He looked up and saw the shadow flying away with his demoness in a mass of darkened shouki. Wait, his demoness? Since when was she his?

Sesshoumaru began to feel his dream slipping away. He let it go as he returned to consciousness. Sesshoumaru rolled to his side, then stopped. He looked down with sleep-clouded eyes to see what was now nestled into his chest. Ishiru had felt his warmth and instinctively snuggled closer, her hands lightly holding onto his haori. Sesshoumaru didn't move a muscle throughout her actions. He simply watched as she snuggled into his chest.

Almost instantly after Ishiru stilled, she was encased in Sesshoumaru's embrace, his nose nestled in her hair. His mind was still half asleep and though had no idea precisely why he wanted to hold her like this, it felt so right to him. His groggy, sleep-laden mind clung to Ishiru like a child to his toy. He slowly fell the few inches he was away, into dreamland with Ishiru.

Whilst on the edges of Sesshoumaru's lands, Naraku picked up a small, weak looking plant from the ground and brought it up to his eyes.

"You will help me."


	5. Chapter 5

**Meant To Be**

By Onira

**Chapter Five : "Think Nothing Of It"**

Ishiru woke early the next morning, feeling delightfully rested. She shifted in preparation for sitting up. Before she got very far, Ishiru felt a pair of strong arms loosely encircling her. The night before rushed back and Ishiru fought down panic.

'I've got to get up and back to my room before he wakes up!' She thought, fighting to keep her scent from changing with her emotions. She shifted and carefully tried to free herself from his grip. She lifted Sesshoumaru's arm and his hand left her hip. That apparently triggered something in his still sleeping mind. He growled softly and curled his arms around her, trapping Ishiru tightly against his chest with his nose buried in her hair.

"Mine..." He whispered next to her ear, then softly rested his lips against her neck, lightly licking her flesh. Ishiru froze, not that she really could have gone anywhere. '_What?'_ She thought, her mind frozen. After a few minutes of just lying there in catatonic shock, Ishiru's mind began working again.

'Well, screw stealth. There's no way I'll be able to get up without waking him up.' She concluded. Judging the distance between her and the door in the corner, Ishiru poised her hands to break his hold on her.

In a quick flurry of movement, Ishiru darted through the door, closing it behind her standing in the center of her floor for a moment, panting. Her muscles were still at a high maintenance level. But now, it only required a lot of work to move. Ishiru didn't feel like they'd give out on her without warning. She heard motion in Sesshoumaru's room and panicked. 'So I did wake him up.' She thought, looking for a way to get out of her room, other than the door. Surely he would have smelt her scent in the bed. 'The window.'

Ishiru pressed her hand to the glass panel, the spell parting the material, and leapt onto the sill before touching the glass, sealing it again. She jumped down onto the somewhat steep ground just as she heard her door slide open.

'He's probably furious.' Ishiru thought. 'He was probably dreaming about something else when he said 'mine'...' She pressed herself against the wall, leaping silently out of sight of the window.

oOo

He felt someone moving his arms and was overwhelmed by a sense of something missing. Waking, Sesshoumaru sat up in his bed. The covers next to him were open, thrown to the side in evident haste. He rested a clawed hand on the sheets next to him. It was still warm, very warm.

Foggy memories entered his mind. Ishiru lying next to him, snuggling into his chest. No. That was definitely a dream. He couldn't recall all that he would have had he been awake.

The youkai lord slid out from beneath the silk covers. Whether or not it had been a dream was a question Ishiru herself could most definitely answer. It was her scent that, he was sure, was permanently on his sheets.

Sesshoumaru opened the door to Ishiru's room just in time to see a faint motion on the window, the glass melting back into a single pane. He approached the window, placing his hand against the glass to part it. Nothing. Her scent lead out onto the sill, but that could just as easily have flowed from in her room.

Well, two could play that game. 'Hide and Seek it is then.'

oOo

As soon as she was out of sight, Ishiru took off, heading for the orchard part of the gardens. She collapsed onto a marble bench, panting heavily. Her muscles burned, millimeters from giving out. Ishiru swore mentally, reprimanding herself for being so stupid. She spent a time there, sitting on a bench and regaining her strength.

'Well that was brilliant, girl. Just go and fall asleep in his _bed!_' She thought, knuckling an eye free of sleep. Testing her legs, she stood up, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet before walking through the orchard rows. The sun struck her face as she entered a gap in the trees.

"Kuso!" Ishiru yelped, remembering that she had to train. 'Screw Sesshoumaru. If he's still looking for me that's his issue. I'm not letting my muscles atrophy after I worked to hard to get them up to this point!' She thought in a firm mental resolve, sounding somewhat harsher towards Sesshoumaru than she had intended.

She set off at a light run, which brought her to the dojo in roughly five minutes with a light sweat on her brow.

"Damn." She said, her resolve to train hard strengthening. She slid into her offensive stance for a change, attacking army upon army of imaginary zombies, lashing out at the air with her still venom-less claws.

She never felt him coming towards her until he pressed against her back, his arms and legs aligning with hers. Sesshoumaru's fingers wove in-between hers, locking their hands together, hers beneath his. He curled his arms around her, trapping her.

"Found you." He said, reminding Ishiru of the morning, which she had forgotten in the intensity of her training.

"Sesshoumaru, I-" He cut her off.

"Think nothing of it. It never happened." He said, releasing her. Ishiru felt something in her heart snap.

'Didn't it?' She thought, letting Sesshoumaru guide her numbly through the rest of her training session.

oOo

Later that night, Ishiru was massaging her sore muscles. He must have been mad at her, no matter what he said. He worked her so hard during training that day, much harder than normal. He never waited for her to collapse. He would always tell her to stop just before hand.

'He's mad. I know it. He wouldn't even look at me.' She thought, standing up from the bench. She had gone back to the orchard. The dappled shade on the soft grassy ground calmed her slightly despite the turmoil in her mind. Sesshoumaru's presence in the orchard with her came before his scent did, floating on the breeze through the cherry grove.

She turned then to face him. A soft gasp flew from her lips as she took in the sight of him. Cherry blossoms fell all around him, tinted blue in the moonlight. His face was thrown into sharp relief by the weak light of the night, his expression appearing more stoic, more haunting to her than it ever had before. His eyes seemed dark, almost black even as he approached her and brought more focus to his features.

"Sesshoumaru... I, I want to apologize. I shouldn't have done what I did..." She trailed off, loosing her courage. She let her hand curl into a fist at her side. She was lying to him! She wasn't sorry! She had loved watching him sleep, curling up next to him, his scent. "I am sorry for my intrusion last night. It will not happen again." Ishiru said, looking down as she forced the words past her lips.

She felt his hand under her chin, tilting her head up. She complied, looking up at him. A sharp slap knocked her to the ground.

Ishiru fell, too shocked to catch herself. She lay there for a moment before propping herself up on one arm. 'I knew it. He is angry.'

"I'm sorry... Sesshoumaru-sama." She said, keeping her head bowed. Ishiru got up, and turned, walking away.

"You dare..." Sesshoumaru growled. Ishiru stopped, but didn't turn around.

"Yes, I dare." She said. 'He's already mad at me. Why not...' Ishiru thought. "I apologized! What more do you want?" She shouted.

White exploded in front of her eyes and Ishiru felt her knees go. Then she felt pain. It was impossible for her to tell if her abdomen was freezing or burning. Ishiru looked down to find a blood covered, clawed hand clutching through the torn front of her haori. She yelped as she was pulled sharply backwards. Sparks flew across her eyes as she felt something else tear in her torso.

"I want you gone..." Was the whisper in her ear. Ishiru was flung to the ground like a rag doll. Ishiru felt his presence drift away. She lay there for a while, until her wound stopped bleeding in torrents. Only once she was only loosing about ten spoons of blood a minute did she move.

She coughed, blood spattering the ground as she heaved herself up. "Fine..." Ishiru stood, ignoring the pain from her injury. She tore her sleeve and bound the shreds around her middle wincing as she tightened them. Then, Ishiru began to walk back to the fortress. If she were to leave, she would need some things first.

Rin finally let her hand drop from her mouth, gasping for the breath she had been holding. 'How could he? Why did Sesshoumaru-sama hurt Ishiru?' She thought frantically as she ducked back behind a large shrub.

oOo

Ishiru snuck to her room, mindful of her scent. She entered though her window as she had exited the morning before. She quickly grabbed a few kimonos from her closet, a few spare haori along with her training gear and boots.

As she was rooting through her desk, Ishiru found a small hair-clip. Its delicate form was that of a butterfly, the thin silver legs forming the clasp. The wings were spattered with gems, clinging to the silver webbing like dew on thin blades of grass.

oOo

"Here." Sesshoumaru took a handful of the hair blocking her eyes and fastened it out of the way with the clip. Ishiru reached up and felt it. Her eyesight had yet to return at the time and she could form mental imagery as a supplement.

"Thank you." She said, looking towards where she thought he was. She felt his hand cup her cheek and Ishiru froze.

"You're welcome." He slipped away, withdrawing his aura. She couldn't find him.

oOo

Ishiru bit her lip and was about to throw the comb on the bed when she stopped. Something had entered her mind, an idea from some dark corner of her mind. She wrapped up her things and grabbed a square of white silk before darting out her window, the clip in her hand.

Ishiru reached the dojo and slid in through the window. She slid her curved blade from its rack on the wall and added its back-holster to her collection as well as a wakazashi blade and sheath. She stood before Soru no Heijin's rack, staring at the empty space on the wall.

She snatched a dagger from a table nearby. After a few moments of work with the white silk and comb she had formed a small, silk wrapped parcel, slightly stained with her blood and had pinned it to the wall with the dagger.

"You want me gone? Then I am gone." She whispered before darting out the window and away.

oOo

Sesshoumaru sat in his study sifting through some papers without really paying any attention to them. It was oddly silent. 'Rin...' He wondered vaguely where she was.

"Sesshoumaru-SAMA!" Sesshoumaru's head turned at Rin's shout. She sounded angry. Not as if Jaken had said something mean, but as if she were truly furious. He had never heard her sound like that before. Sesshoumaru stood up as the little girl approached the room.

The door to his study was shoved open and Rin ran in.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Why did you hurt Ishiru? She didn't do anything! Rin thinks she might be dead now! Rin likes Ishiru! Why did you hurt her?" Tears were falling down her cheeks as she shouted.

Sesshoumaru was utterly shocked. He had done no such thing. True, he had worked her hard in training that day, but he hadn't seen her since.

"Rin, what are you talking about? I have not seen Ishiru since this afternoon." He said, his voice giving away nothing, as usual.

"Rin saw you! You put your hand through her belly! Then you threw her!" Rin had buried her face in his hakama. Sesshoumaru knelt. If he wanted to find out anything else, he would have to calm the child first.

"Rin. I promise you that it was not me you saw. But, if you want me to find Ishiru, I need you to talk to me." He said, putting an arm around her tiny shoulders.

"Rin only saw you and Ishiru out in the gardens. She said sorry for something and you hit her! You had creepy eyes... And you looked kind of dark purple. Rin was so scared! Rin doesn't want to see you like that ever again!" She threw her tiny arms around his neck, and wouldn't let go.

"Aisumii..." Sesshoumaru called. The woman appeared within moments. "Rin, you must go with Aisumii now. I will find Ishiru." He said and the little girl let go to be transferred to Aisumii's arms. "She is not to leave the fortress." Sesshoumaru said, giving Aisumii a look that ensured a slow death if she did not obey. Without a second look, he left.

He first looked in the gardens. Ishiru's scent was everywhere, most recently in the cherry orchards. Following her scent of mist and vegetation he couldn't help but imagine her in the orchards, the petals sprinkling her ebony hair. He abruptly ended his thought.

He was getting soft, caring for her safety at all. Even in her training. He went too easy on her and she nearly died. He had trained her so hard that day to try and make up for it. And now she was in danger again.

oOo

Ishiru collapsed an oddly short distance from the fortress. She was sure she could have made it farther. 'I wasted too much time at the fortress...' She thought, sliding up against a tree to rest. She sat down and closed her eyes, intending to rest only a moment. She was immediately flung into the blackness of a dreamless sleep.

oOo

Sesshoumaru followed Ishiru's scent to a point. Her blood. The metallic tang assaulted his senses. 'So, Rin wasn't imagining things.' He thought. Sesshoumaru stopped. A few cherry petals on the ground were spattered with red. He knelt, resting a hand against the ground beneath them. He pulled his hand back. His fingers were covered in blood.

"Ishiru." His eyes became slightly laced with red as a scent reached his nose.

oOo

Naraku grinned. Things were going precisely as he wanted. His transformation melting away as he approached the passed-out demon girl. His mind frothed with thoughts, most too impure to mention, others devious to the extreme. He gathered her up, vines wrapping around Ishiru's lithe form before drifting off through the canopy and across the darkening sky.


	6. Chapter 6

**Meant To Be**

By Onira

**Chapter Seven : "I Can't Do This Alone"**

Ishiru didn't move as Naraku's barrier formed around her. But she didn't feel relief, only a sort of sadness. She wanted to go back, to see him again. But she couldn't bring herself to resist.

She kept her head down as the orb ended its journey at Naraku's fortress. She got up to leave halfway through Naraku's spiel on being careful.

"You've no right to lecture me, _hanyou_." She hissed, stressing hanyou with disgust, something she had not done since she first got there.

Naraku was on his feet, his hand tight around her upper arm, digging his fingers into one of the deeper gashes. Ishiru resisted the urge to wince, and looked at him, her eyes locking with his enraged, jet black ones. She had seen those eyes once before. Ishiru blanched. When Sesshoumaru attacked her. . . These were his eyes!

It clicked in Ishiru's mind.

She looked down, a cold calm settling over her mind and turning her burning rage to ice, sharp and deadly. She would kill him. . . But not now. For now, she couldn't let him know, that _she_ knew. She let her stance fall slack, "giving up" in the argument.

"Know your place girl." Naraku hissed. He pulled her close to him, his lips inches from her ear as he whispered. "You owe me your life, and would do well to act as a servant in debt, which you are." He shoved her to the floor. Ishiru caught herself automatically, landing in a low crouch.

She turned to glare at Naraku, but he was gone. Ishiru stayed on the floor, moving into a sitting position. Her thoughts were raging.

'He hurt me. . . He made me think that. . . And now Sesshoumaru. . . He looked like he hated me then. . .' Her eyes narrowed. 'Naraku will pay for this. . . But I can't do this alone. . . I have to get help.' With that final thought, Ishiru stood, turning down the hallway to her own chamber.

She grabbed an ink brush and parchment, quickly writing a note. She blew on the ink and set the note on her futon. With that, she snatched up her Mace-Whip and left.

oOo

Ishiru darted through the canopy, her feet alighting silently and unfailingly on branch after branch. She found the village very quickly, tracing her memory back to the battle site.

Their scents were still there. The wolf had gone one way, the group another. 'The wolf will be the easiest to hold off while I speak. . . I will go after him first.' She thought, following his scent up into the mountains. Ishiru noted the scent of wolves that marked the demon pack's territory. She extended her awareness, not wanting to be discovered until she reached the wolf prince himself.

She came upon a network of dens, wolf demons of all ages scattered along the mountainside. Two cubs played nearby and Ishiru took a moment to smile at their game before sneaking past them. She saw a particularly lavish den entrance at the top of the lot. Kouga's scent lead up that way.

Ishiru went around the dens, approaching her goal from above. She darted through the entrance, careful not to be seen. She found Kouga lying at the back of the den, about seventy feet in from the mouth of the cave. He looked rather cute. He was, conveniently, asleep. Ishiru raised an eyebrow, walking silently towards him. He wasn't deeply asleep. His heartbeat was too quick for deep sleep, but too slow for wakefulness. Ishiru slid a dagger from the tie on her haori and placed a hand on one side of his neck, not touching him by a millimeter. In one short movement, she let her fingers touch his skin, sliding the dagger into the ground, pressing gently against his neck.

That touch was all it took to wake the sleeping demon. Ishiru moved an arm to hold him down as he tried to leap up. She wanted to immobilize him, not kill him.

"I have a dagger at your neck. Getting up would not be the best of ideas." She told him. Kouga looked at her, rather blank-faced, for a moment, then he glared as he recognized her.

"Before you start growling at me, just listen." She said. "I have recently discovered something about my master. And I wish for your help in destroying him." Kouga's expression didn't change.

"How do I know that this isn't a trap?" He growled.

"You don't." Ishiru said. "But if you put that nose of yours to work you would." Kouga did so. He wasn't prepared for the sweet mist and greenery that encompassed her scent. But he did find the sharp spice of her anger, begun not long ago. Ishiru saw his recognition.

"So, if I let you up, will you attack me?" She asked. Kouga shook his head mutely and Ishiru pulled the dagger from the ground beside his neck, sitting back on her heels. Kouga sat up and immediately shifted to face her, still somewhat untrusting.

For a while they conversed. Ishiru explained her situation to him, leaving out Sesshoumaru, Rin, and her life before the incident. She thought for a moment on what she would say when the subject of her past came up. 'That I don't remember. In a way, I suppose that's true.' She thought.

Kouga agreed to help her, thinking that an insider would doubtless be of great help. But, the thought lingered in his mind that it could all be a ruse. 'I will have to come up with some sort of back-up plan.' He thought as Ishiru got up to leave.

"I'm going to find another group that I think will help me." Ishiru said, stopping for a moment at the cave mouth.

"Well, whoever you're thinking of, I would suggest getting help from the hanyou that creamed you earlier." Kouga teased, supporting himself on the cave wall a few feet behind her. Ishiru rolled her eyes at him, thinking that it was a big step for him to be familiar with her.

"Oh! Which reminds me." She said, pulling something from her obi. She turned around and grabbed Kouga's hand, placing two Shikon shards in his palm.

"I picked these up on the way here. If anyone asks, you found them on your own." She said, before turning and darting out of the cave.

Kouga stood for a moment, slightly startled. He had felt an unimaginable amount of raw power beneath her skin when she had grasped his hand. He rubbed his hand where she had touched him, trying to rid it of the tingling sensation she had caused. Just who, or what, was this girl?

oOo

Ishiru backtracked to the village once again. It took her even less time to find the scent of the group. Following it though, soon became a task unto itself. The hanyou's scent blended with the human girl's after a little ways, and the scents of the tajiya and monk blended with that little feline creature she saw, and then vanished. Then hanyou's began to appear only on spot after spot.

Though Ishiru was able to track them, she was quite annoyed with it by nightfall. Thankfully, it was then that she reached their camp, which was placed in a good-sized clearing in the middle of… Well, pretty much nowhere. Ishiru perched in a nearby tree, withdrawing both her aura and scent. She watched, waiting for some sort of an opportunity.

It was not long before she spotted the oddly dressed girl leaving the clearing carrying what looked like a rather fluffy cloth and a few bottles. Ishiru was puzzled at the nature of her items and followed. The girl was unarmed and human, so she would be able to do very little against her.

Kagome walked to the hot spring, her bathing supplies under one arm. She sensed a nearby jyaki, but it was very faint, nor was it threatening, so she ignored it. Ishiru circled the spring while the girl began to bathe, moving to a group of jumbled boulders that jutted out of the water. Kagome sunk beneath the water for a moment and Ishiru took the opportunity to move out into view. She sat nonchalantly on a boulder, near to where the miko would emerge, which Kagome did within moments.

It did not take her long to notice the jyaki so close to her. Kagome's eyes darted open to stare at Ishiru, who was perched atop the boulder nearest her. Before she could react, Ishiru spoke.

"I prithee, don't scream. I am not here to hurt you." Ishiru said, hoping to calm the miko's rising pulse. "I know you think I work for Naraku. But I also know, that you think I do so willingly, which I most certainly don't." Ishiru paused, but Kagome didn't say anything she went on ahead.

"Due to recent events, I am now against Naraku. He does not know as much, nor does he know that I am here." Still Kagome said nothing. Ishiru blinked, then dropped all pretenses and formalities, letting her posture fall slack and giving the girl a very dry look.

"Okay, if you don't say something soon I'm going to leave and talk to your more violent companions." Ishiru said. Kagome seemed to catch herself and ducked down into the water a little.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a little surprised." Kagome said, a little flustered. "Weren't you attacking us just yesterday?" She asked.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. If you're worried about your wolf friend, he's just fine. I found a couple of new jewel shards for him. He got them when I spoke to him earlier today." Ishiru said. "And, as I said before, very recent events have set me against Naraku." As she spoke, Ishiru slid into a more relaxed position on the boulder. She talked with Kagome for a while. Explaining the same things to her as she had to Kouga.

"Okay." Said Kagome. "That sounds alright. But you'll have a little trouble clearing yesterday's incident up with Inuyasha."

"Why's that?" Ishiru said, raising an eyebrow. "He beat me." Ishiru had become quite comfortable around Kagome in the short time they had spent talking. She was easy to like.

"Well, Inuyasha's not exactly the nicest-"

"OIY! Wench! What's taking you so damn long?" Said hanyou shouted, coming into view. Ishiru looked up at him from her place on the boulder. She had relaxed to the point of lying down on the warm rock so she had to prop herself up on her elbows.

"Oh. I see." Ishiru said, her expression dry.

"YOU!" Inuyasha shouted as he saw Ishiru. He immediately pulled Tessaiga from its sheath. "What the fuck are you doing here? Didn't get enough last time?" With that he leapt towards Ishiru, raising Tessaiga with the intent of cutting her in half. Ishiru's expression was somewhere between bored and annoyed, something she had learned from Sesshoumaru. Kagome on the other hand, didn't take the situation quite as calmly.

"Inuyasha OSUWARII!"

SPLASH!

Ishiru darted out of the way of a barrage of water, which had resulted from Inuyasha crashing into the hot spring. Despite her efforts however, Ishiru ended up getting soaked. Kagome had gotten out of the water and wrapped a towel around her torso. She walked over to Ishiru.

"Like I was saying. He's not the most forgiving, or nicest of people." Kagome said.

"So I see." Ishiru replied, wringing out the edges of her haori, silently thanking Sesshoumaru for having her always wear bindings under her training clothes. The white parts of her silk garment had become strikingly see-through. Bubbles came up from where Inuyasha was under the water.

"Umm… Will he be alright under the water for so long?" Ishiru asked, pointing to the bubbles.

"Probably not, but the spell will let him go in a moment." Kagome replied. And, true to her words, Inuyasha came leaping out of the water moments later, again ready to attack Ishiru. She rolled her eyes and turned to Kagome.

"Just a second." Ishiru said, then leapt across the distance between her and Inuyasha, closing it in a moment. She quickly pinned him to the ground, a dagger against his neck.

"Hey! What are you doing? You said you wouldn't hurt anyone!" Kagome protested, running over.

"And I'm not going to. I just don't want to worry about him trying to get up." Ishiru said, hoping Inuyasha wouldn't catch the fact that since she wouldn't hurt him, the dagger wouldn't make any difference.

He didn't. Ishiru gave him a quick, thirty-second, version of what she told Kagome. After making him agree to no more fighting, Ishiru let Inuyasha up, saying she'd explain everything in further detail to the rest of the group as well as him.

Ishiru walked behind Kagome when they entered the clearing, hoping to avoid startling anyone. Shippou ran up and hugged Kagome around the neck, greeting her happily. It was barely a moment before he looked up into Ishiru's face, which was quite close considering that she was standing right behind Kagome. Shippou yipped in fright and jumped down.

"K-Kagome! There's a demon right behind you!" He shouted, jumping up and down in anxiety. His words triggered a reaction from the entire group, save Inuyasha and Kagome. Sango stood, reaching for her boomerang, Miroku following suit, a hand catching hold of his prayer beads.

"Guys, guys wait a second!" Kagome said, raising her hands, palms forward. "She's not going to hurt us."

"She says." Grumbled Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome snapped.

"It's alright." Ishiru said. "He doesn't really have any good reason to trust me." She stepped out from behind Kagome, looking at each member of the group. "I give you my word that I will not harm you."

"Not good enough." Growled Inuyasha. Ishiru looked at him.

"I have nothing else I can offer you." She said. A thought suddenly occurred to her. "But then, there may be something I can tell you that will convince you."

"What?" Inuyasha said, his tone untrusting.

"I would prefer the information that this would insinuate remain known to as few as possible." Ishiru said, looking at the ground.

"Fine." He grunted. Ishiru looked up in surprise. She hadn't expected him to agree to it.

"A-Alright. Come with me." She said, walking back into the woods, Inuyasha in tow. After they were out of earshot, Ishiru turned to face him.

She felt a clawed hand grab hold of her haori front. A flash of memory went through her mind before she brushed it aside. She let Inuyasha slam her into a tree trunk, hoping to convince him that she was not a danger.

"Now, what is it you wanted to tell me?" Inuyasha growled. Ishiru looked up at him, her face a perfect imitation of Sesshoumaru's emotionless mask.

"I swear by the honor of Sesshoumaru Lord of the Western Lands, I will not harm you, nor any member of your group." She said, her voice even and emotionless. Inuyasha froze. Few had the audacity to even speak of the Western Lord, much less assume they could borrow his honor for an oath, this much Inuyasha knew, despite his "upbringing."

"Who are you exactly?" Inuyasha growled.

"I told you before, at our first meeting. I am Ishiru." She replied, slowly letting the mask fall.

Inuyasha loosened his hold on her. He now remembered. That incident had been slipping his mind at an oddly frequent rate. Sesshoumaru had been looking for an "Ishiru." He recognized the look she gave him, and the way she spoke. Just who was this girl to Sesshoumaru?

"Fine." Inuyasha said, releasing her fully. "I believe you. But, you've got more explaining to do." Inuyasha began to walk back to camp. Ishiru regained her composure and followed. Upon their arrival back at the campsite, most of the previous tension had left. Kagome had just finished explaining Ishiru's story to the group.

Miroku was the first to greet Ishiru. He got up, and walked over to her. He then knelt and took a hold of her hand. Ishiru was utterly perplexed at his behavior. Sango, Kagome, Shippou and Inuyasha were all waiting for the inevitable.

"Ishiru-sama, would you do me the honor of bearing my child?" He asked.

Ishiru blinked in confusion. 'What does he want? Surely the mother of his child could carry the baby.' She thought, translating his request in a different way than everyone else was. Finally Ishiru spoke.

"What?" She said, her head tilting in confusion. Miroku flinched, expecting a hit. Everyone else in the group was something akin to shocked. Ishiru looked up at Kagome. "Why can't the child's mother carry it?" She asked.

Kagome was unsure how to answer. It was a shock, even to her, how naive the girl was.

"Eh. . . It might be better if I don't explain it." Kagome said, slightly flustered.

"Not at all Kagome-sama." Miroku said, standing up. He turned to Ishiru. "Now, children are made by-"

WHACK!

Sango removed her boomerang from the Houshi's head, leaving him unconscious on the ground. Ishiru blinked, then looked down at Miroku, then up to Sango.

"Umm. . . Will he be alright?" She asked hesitantly.

"Not to worry. He gets hit a lot. So by now he's pretty resilient." Sango said. "I'd not listen to a word he says if I were you."

Now that Shippou was not afraid of her, he climbed up onto Ishiru's shoulder, messing with her pointed ears and patting her hair. She let him, hoping to win the cute little youkai's trust. Shippou seemed to approve of her, but opted to Kagome's shoulder once he was through. Kirara sniffed at Ishiru's fingertips, giving her a lick of approval before going back to Sango.

The group began to settle down for the night. Ishiru was still talking with Sango about the schematics of Naraku's fortress and the surrounding barrier. Ishiru agreed to give them every other shard she collected for Naraku. As much as Ishiru hated to do anything to benefit the degenerate hanyou, she couldn't just cut of her service without arising suspicion.

Inuyasha remained perched on a tree-limb, watching Ishiru as she conversed with the Tajiya. 'Who the hell is this girl?' He thought. 'She knows Sesshoumaru, that's for sure. But how? And why was he looking for her before? If she stays here for too long, he might come here looking for her, plus she'll loose her pretense with Naraku.' Another thing occurred to Inuyasha. 'And why the fuck doesn't she have any clue about mating? Even children know more than that! And she looks something like seventeen. . . So she learned enough from Sesshoumaru to learn that expression. Keh. . . Well I can't really see him teaching anyone about the birds and the bees.' He grinned as he thought that. "But, she can't stay with us, Naraku will come looking for her." He looked back down at the youkai girl. 'Whoever she is, she needs to leave. . . Soon.'

As though she read his mind, Ishiru finished her conversation with the Tajiya and stood, turning to speak to everyone.

"Thank you very much for your trust, and help. I would stay, but Naraku will, without a doubt, check on me every now and then. And the last thing I want is to lead him to you." She said.

"Are you sure you won't stay for the night?" Kagome asked, as she was still curious about the new character.

"Yes. Naraku will most likely check using Kanna's mirror, and I can only sense it, not block its vision. Should he look in on me while I'm here, it would give me away." As she spoke, she moved to the edge of the clearing. "I'm sorry to leave in such haste, but I truly must go." With that Ishiru darted into the underbrush, soon leaping up into the canopy and away.

Kagome looked up at Inuyasha once Ishiru was out of earshot.

"Well? Do we trust her?" She asked. Inuyasha paused for a while before answering.

"Yeah. . . For now."


	7. Chapter 7

**Meant To Be**

By Onira

**Chapter Seven : "I Can't Do This Alone"**

Ishiru didn't move as Naraku's barrier formed around her. But she didn't feel relief, only a sort of sadness. She wanted to go back, to see him again. But she couldn't bring herself to resist.

She kept her head down as the orb ended its journey at Naraku's fortress. She got up to leave halfway through Naraku's spiel on being careful.

"You've no right to lecture me, _hanyou_." She hissed, stressing hanyou with disgust, something she had not done since she first got there.

Naraku was on his feet, his hand tight around her upper arm, digging his fingers into one of the deeper gashes. Ishiru resisted the urge to wince, and looked at him, her eyes locking with his enraged, jet black ones. She had seen those eyes once before. Ishiru blanched. When Sesshoumaru attacked her. . . These were his eyes!

It clicked in Ishiru's mind.

She looked down, a cold calm settling over her mind and turning her burning rage to ice, sharp and deadly. She would kill him. . . But not now. For now, she couldn't let him know, that _she_ knew. She let her stance fall slack, "giving up" in the argument.

"Know your place girl." Naraku hissed. He pulled her close to him, his lips inches from her ear as he whispered. "You owe me your life, and would do well to act as a servant in debt, which you are." He shoved her to the floor. Ishiru caught herself automatically, landing in a low crouch.

She turned to glare at Naraku, but he was gone. Ishiru stayed on the floor, moving into a sitting position. Her thoughts were raging.

'He hurt me. . . He made me think that. . . And now Sesshoumaru. . . He looked like he hated me then. . .' Her eyes narrowed. 'Naraku will pay for this. . . But I can't do this alone. . . I have to get help.' With that final thought, Ishiru stood, turning down the hallway to her own chamber.

She grabbed an ink brush and parchment, quickly writing a note. She blew on the ink and set the note on her futon. With that, she snatched up her Mace-Whip and left.

oOo

Ishiru darted through the canopy, her feet alighting silently and unfailingly on branch after branch. She found the village very quickly, tracing her memory back to the battle site.

Their scents were still there. The wolf had gone one way, the group another. 'The wolf will be the easiest to hold off while I speak. . . I will go after him first.' She thought, following his scent up into the mountains. Ishiru noted the scent of wolves that marked the demon pack's territory. She extended her awareness, not wanting to be discovered until she reached the wolf prince himself.

She came upon a network of dens, wolf demons of all ages scattered along the mountainside. Two cubs played nearby and Ishiru took a moment to smile at their game before sneaking past them. She saw a particularly lavish den entrance at the top of the lot. Kouga's scent lead up that way.

Ishiru went around the dens, approaching her goal from above. She darted through the entrance, careful not to be seen. She found Kouga lying at the back of the den, about seventy feet in from the mouth of the cave. He looked rather cute. He was, conveniently, asleep. Ishiru raised an eyebrow, walking silently towards him. He wasn't deeply asleep. His heartbeat was too quick for deep sleep, but too slow for wakefulness. Ishiru slid a dagger from the tie on her haori and placed a hand on one side of his neck, not touching him by a millimeter. In one short movement, she let her fingers touch his skin, sliding the dagger into the ground, pressing gently against his neck.

That touch was all it took to wake the sleeping demon. Ishiru moved an arm to hold him down as he tried to leap up. She wanted to immobilize him, not kill him.

"I have a dagger at your neck. Getting up would not be the best of ideas." She told him. Kouga looked at her, rather blank-faced, for a moment, then he glared as he recognized her.

"Before you start growling at me, just listen." She said. "I have recently discovered something about my master. And I wish for your help in destroying him." Kouga's expression didn't change.

"How do I know that this isn't a trap?" He growled.

"You don't." Ishiru said. "But if you put that nose of yours to work you would." Kouga did so. He wasn't prepared for the sweet mist and greenery that encompassed her scent. But he did find the sharp spice of her anger, begun not long ago. Ishiru saw his recognition.

"So, if I let you up, will you attack me?" She asked. Kouga shook his head mutely and Ishiru pulled the dagger from the ground beside his neck, sitting back on her heels. Kouga sat up and immediately shifted to face her, still somewhat untrusting.

For a while they conversed. Ishiru explained her situation to him, leaving out Sesshoumaru, Rin, and her life before the incident. She thought for a moment on what she would say when the subject of her past came up. 'That I don't remember. In a way, I suppose that's true.' She thought.

Kouga agreed to help her, thinking that an insider would doubtless be of great help. But, the thought lingered in his mind that it could all be a ruse. 'I will have to come up with some sort of back-up plan.' He thought as Ishiru got up to leave.

"I'm going to find another group that I think will help me." Ishiru said, stopping for a moment at the cave mouth.

"Well, whoever you're thinking of, I would suggest getting help from the hanyou that creamed you earlier." Kouga teased, supporting himself on the cave wall a few feet behind her. Ishiru rolled her eyes at him, thinking that it was a big step for him to be familiar with her.

"Oh! Which reminds me." She said, pulling something from her obi. She turned around and grabbed Kouga's hand, placing two Shikon shards in his palm.

"I picked these up on the way here. If anyone asks, you found them on your own." She said, before turning and darting out of the cave.

Kouga stood for a moment, slightly startled. He had felt an unimaginable amount of raw power beneath her skin when she had grasped his hand. He rubbed his hand where she had touched him, trying to rid it of the tingling sensation she had caused. Just who, or what, was this girl?

oOo

Ishiru backtracked to the village once again. It took her even less time to find the scent of the group. Following it though, soon became a task unto itself. The hanyou's scent blended with the human girl's after a little ways, and the scents of the tajiya and monk blended with that little feline creature she saw, and then vanished. Then hanyou's began to appear only on spot after spot.

Though Ishiru was able to track them, she was quite annoyed with it by nightfall. Thankfully, it was then that she reached their camp, which was placed in a good-sized clearing in the middle of… Well, pretty much nowhere. Ishiru perched in a nearby tree, withdrawing both her aura and scent. She watched, waiting for some sort of an opportunity.

It was not long before she spotted the oddly dressed girl leaving the clearing carrying what looked like a rather fluffy cloth and a few bottles. Ishiru was puzzled at the nature of her items and followed. The girl was unarmed and human, so she would be able to do very little against her.

Kagome walked to the hot spring, her bathing supplies under one arm. She sensed a nearby jyaki, but it was very faint, nor was it threatening, so she ignored it. Ishiru circled the spring while the girl began to bathe, moving to a group of jumbled boulders that jutted out of the water. Kagome sunk beneath the water for a moment and Ishiru took the opportunity to move out into view. She sat nonchalantly on a boulder, near to where the miko would emerge, which Kagome did within moments.

It did not take her long to notice the jyaki so close to her. Kagome's eyes darted open to stare at Ishiru, who was perched atop the boulder nearest her. Before she could react, Ishiru spoke.

"I prithee, don't scream. I am not here to hurt you." Ishiru said, hoping to calm the miko's rising pulse. "I know you think I work for Naraku. But I also know, that you think I do so willingly, which I most certainly don't." Ishiru paused, but Kagome didn't say anything she went on ahead.

"Due to recent events, I am now against Naraku. He does not know as much, nor does he know that I am here." Still Kagome said nothing. Ishiru blinked, then dropped all pretenses and formalities, letting her posture fall slack and giving the girl a very dry look.

"Okay, if you don't say something soon I'm going to leave and talk to your more violent companions." Ishiru said. Kagome seemed to catch herself and ducked down into the water a little.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a little surprised." Kagome said, a little flustered. "Weren't you attacking us just yesterday?" She asked.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. If you're worried about your wolf friend, he's just fine. I found a couple of new jewel shards for him. He got them when I spoke to him earlier today." Ishiru said. "And, as I said before, very recent events have set me against Naraku." As she spoke, Ishiru slid into a more relaxed position on the boulder. She talked with Kagome for a while. Explaining the same things to her as she had to Kouga.

"Okay." Said Kagome. "That sounds alright. But you'll have a little trouble clearing yesterday's incident up with Inuyasha."

"Why's that?" Ishiru said, raising an eyebrow. "He beat me." Ishiru had become quite comfortable around Kagome in the short time they had spent talking. She was easy to like.

"Well, Inuyasha's not exactly the nicest-"

"OIY! Wench! What's taking you so damn long?" Said hanyou shouted, coming into view. Ishiru looked up at him from her place on the boulder. She had relaxed to the point of lying down on the warm rock so she had to prop herself up on her elbows.

"Oh. I see." Ishiru said, her expression dry.

"YOU!" Inuyasha shouted as he saw Ishiru. He immediately pulled Tessaiga from its sheath. "What the fuck are you doing here? Didn't get enough last time?" With that he leapt towards Ishiru, raising Tessaiga with the intent of cutting her in half. Ishiru's expression was somewhere between bored and annoyed, something she had learned from Sesshoumaru. Kagome on the other hand, didn't take the situation quite as calmly.

"Inuyasha OSUWARII!"

SPLASH!

Ishiru darted out of the way of a barrage of water, which had resulted from Inuyasha crashing into the hot spring. Despite her efforts however, Ishiru ended up getting soaked. Kagome had gotten out of the water and wrapped a towel around her torso. She walked over to Ishiru.

"Like I was saying. He's not the most forgiving, or nicest of people." Kagome said.

"So I see." Ishiru replied, wringing out the edges of her haori, silently thanking Sesshoumaru for having her always wear bindings under her training clothes. The white parts of her silk garment had become strikingly see-through. Bubbles came up from where Inuyasha was under the water.

"Umm… Will he be alright under the water for so long?" Ishiru asked, pointing to the bubbles.

"Probably not, but the spell will let him go in a moment." Kagome replied. And, true to her words, Inuyasha came leaping out of the water moments later, again ready to attack Ishiru. She rolled her eyes and turned to Kagome.

"Just a second." Ishiru said, then leapt across the distance between her and Inuyasha, closing it in a moment. She quickly pinned him to the ground, a dagger against his neck.

"Hey! What are you doing? You said you wouldn't hurt anyone!" Kagome protested, running over.

"And I'm not going to. I just don't want to worry about him trying to get up." Ishiru said, hoping Inuyasha wouldn't catch the fact that since she wouldn't hurt him, the dagger wouldn't make any difference.

He didn't. Ishiru gave him a quick, thirty-second, version of what she told Kagome. After making him agree to no more fighting, Ishiru let Inuyasha up, saying she'd explain everything in further detail to the rest of the group as well as him.

Ishiru walked behind Kagome when they entered the clearing, hoping to avoid startling anyone. Shippou ran up and hugged Kagome around the neck, greeting her happily. It was barely a moment before he looked up into Ishiru's face, which was quite close considering that she was standing right behind Kagome. Shippou yipped in fright and jumped down.

"K-Kagome! There's a demon right behind you!" He shouted, jumping up and down in anxiety. His words triggered a reaction from the entire group, save Inuyasha and Kagome. Sango stood, reaching for her boomerang, Miroku following suit, a hand catching hold of his prayer beads.

"Guys, guys wait a second!" Kagome said, raising her hands, palms forward. "She's not going to hurt us."

"She says." Grumbled Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome snapped.

"It's alright." Ishiru said. "He doesn't really have any good reason to trust me." She stepped out from behind Kagome, looking at each member of the group. "I give you my word that I will not harm you."

"Not good enough." Growled Inuyasha. Ishiru looked at him.

"I have nothing else I can offer you." She said. A thought suddenly occurred to her. "But then, there may be something I can tell you that will convince you."

"What?" Inuyasha said, his tone untrusting.

"I would prefer the information that this would insinuate remain known to as few as possible." Ishiru said, looking at the ground.

"Fine." He grunted. Ishiru looked up in surprise. She hadn't expected him to agree to it.

"A-Alright. Come with me." She said, walking back into the woods, Inuyasha in tow. After they were out of earshot, Ishiru turned to face him.

She felt a clawed hand grab hold of her haori front. A flash of memory went through her mind before she brushed it aside. She let Inuyasha slam her into a tree trunk, hoping to convince him that she was not a danger.

"Now, what is it you wanted to tell me?" Inuyasha growled. Ishiru looked up at him, her face a perfect imitation of Sesshoumaru's emotionless mask.

"I swear by the honor of Sesshoumaru Lord of the Western Lands, I will not harm you, nor any member of your group." She said, her voice even and emotionless. Inuyasha froze. Few had the audacity to even speak of the Western Lord, much less assume they could borrow his honor for an oath, this much Inuyasha knew, despite his "upbringing."

"Who are you exactly?" Inuyasha growled.

"I told you before, at our first meeting. I am Ishiru." She replied, slowly letting the mask fall.

Inuyasha loosened his hold on her. He now remembered. That incident had been slipping his mind at an oddly frequent rate. Sesshoumaru had been looking for an "Ishiru." He recognized the look she gave him, and the way she spoke. Just who was this girl to Sesshoumaru?

"Fine." Inuyasha said, releasing her fully. "I believe you. But, you've got more explaining to do." Inuyasha began to walk back to camp. Ishiru regained her composure and followed. Upon their arrival back at the campsite, most of the previous tension had left. Kagome had just finished explaining Ishiru's story to the group.

Miroku was the first to greet Ishiru. He got up, and walked over to her. He then knelt and took a hold of her hand. Ishiru was utterly perplexed at his behavior. Sango, Kagome, Shippou and Inuyasha were all waiting for the inevitable.

"Ishiru-sama, would you do me the honor of bearing my child?" He asked.

Ishiru blinked in confusion. 'What does he want? Surely the mother of his child could carry the baby.' She thought, translating his request in a different way than everyone else was. Finally Ishiru spoke.

"What?" She said, her head tilting in confusion. Miroku flinched, expecting a hit. Everyone else in the group was something akin to shocked. Ishiru looked up at Kagome. "Why can't the child's mother carry it?" She asked.

Kagome was unsure how to answer. It was a shock, even to her, how naive the girl was.

"Eh. . . It might be better if I don't explain it." Kagome said, slightly flustered.

"Not at all Kagome-sama." Miroku said, standing up. He turned to Ishiru. "Now, children are made by-"

WHACK!

Sango removed her boomerang from the Houshi's head, leaving him unconscious on the ground. Ishiru blinked, then looked down at Miroku, then up to Sango.

"Umm. . . Will he be alright?" She asked hesitantly.

"Not to worry. He gets hit a lot. So by now he's pretty resilient." Sango said. "I'd not listen to a word he says if I were you."

Now that Shippou was not afraid of her, he climbed up onto Ishiru's shoulder, messing with her pointed ears and patting her hair. She let him, hoping to win the cute little youkai's trust. Shippou seemed to approve of her, but opted to Kagome's shoulder once he was through. Kirara sniffed at Ishiru's fingertips, giving her a lick of approval before going back to Sango.

The group began to settle down for the night. Ishiru was still talking with Sango about the schematics of Naraku's fortress and the surrounding barrier. Ishiru agreed to give them every other shard she collected for Naraku. As much as Ishiru hated to do anything to benefit the degenerate hanyou, she couldn't just cut of her service without arising suspicion.

Inuyasha remained perched on a tree-limb, watching Ishiru as she conversed with the Tajiya. 'Who the hell is this girl?' He thought. 'She knows Sesshoumaru, that's for sure. But how? And why was he looking for her before? If she stays here for too long, he might come here looking for her, plus she'll loose her pretense with Naraku.' Another thing occurred to Inuyasha. 'And why the fuck doesn't she have any clue about mating? Even children know more than that! And she looks something like seventeen. . . So she learned enough from Sesshoumaru to learn that expression. Keh. . . Well I can't really see him teaching anyone about the birds and the bees.' He grinned as he thought that. "But, she can't stay with us, Naraku will come looking for her." He looked back down at the youkai girl. 'Whoever she is, she needs to leave. . . Soon.'

As though she read his mind, Ishiru finished her conversation with the Tajiya and stood, turning to speak to everyone.

"Thank you very much for your trust, and help. I would stay, but Naraku will, without a doubt, check on me every now and then. And the last thing I want is to lead him to you." She said.

"Are you sure you won't stay for the night?" Kagome asked, as she was still curious about the new character.

"Yes. Naraku will most likely check using Kanna's mirror, and I can only sense it, not block its vision. Should he look in on me while I'm here, it would give me away." As she spoke, she moved to the edge of the clearing. "I'm sorry to leave in such haste, but I truly must go." With that Ishiru darted into the underbrush, soon leaping up into the canopy and away.

Kagome looked up at Inuyasha once Ishiru was out of earshot.

"Well? Do we trust her?" She asked. Inuyasha paused for a while before answering.

"Yeah. . . For now."


	8. Chapter 8

**Meant To Be**

By Onira

**Chapter Eight : "Like We Used To"**

Ishiru ran, lost in thought. She was undeniably nervous about what she was going to do. She ran through uncountable possible scenarios that could happen. Before she knew it, she was exhausted. She had done more than her share of running that day.

Ishiru stopped at a river, standing at the bank. She dipped her feet into the cool water, sighing softly. It was a serene, peaceful place. Trees hung low over the water, the tips of the branches trailing into the water. The river was wide, and deep in the middle. The riverbank was peppered with boulders. They had been there for quite some time, worn smooth by both water and the ages.

She slowly slid from the water's edge, stepping deeper into the river. The water flowed about her thighs, gently soothing her sore muscles. She trailed her fingertips on the water, watching the ripples that spread out from the delicate digits. She walked back to the shore, climbing up onto a large boulder. After a moment of work, she had loosed and shed her obi, discarding her yukata and folding them both on the smooth rock.

"Tonight, I'll just relax. I've worked enough for now. That bastard never gives me any time off." She murmured, unraveling the bindings from around her arms, legs and torso. Once finished, she slid off the boulder and into the cool water.

For a while, she just swam about, enjoying the one chance she'd had to relax in a long time. Naraku wasn't the easiest of people to be indebted to. After she had her fill, she began to play with the water, shaping and moving it about using her youki. She made a sloppy orb then brought it up into the air to hover at her eye level.

Her ear twitched as the sound of branches moving reached her ears. Acting as if she hadn't heard, she brought the orb up into the air, raising her hand as though pulling it along. She jerked her hand to the right, sending the blob flying into the underbrush.

oOo

Sesshoumaru was, yet again, out late at night. He hadn't been able to sleep. . . Again. He hadn't had this problem since he was a pup. Yet, here he was, walking through the edge of his lands, in the middle of the night, for no reason. His thoughts wandered, touching on item after item and never lingering. But then one thought stayed. Ishiru. He had seen her the day before last, and Naraku. . . Naraku took her away. Did that mean that she was working for Naraku now? Would she eventually come after him? She had severed all ties with him when she left. She had no reason to remain loyal to him. Or was Naraku controlling her? No. Those were her emotions he had seen. That was her who had backed away from him. In fear? Not quite, there was something else in her eyes. What it was, Sesshoumaru did not know.

Whilst he thought, Sesshoumaru kept walking, his feet leading him places unknown. Sesshoumaru was snapped out of his thoughts when a scent hit his nose. He tuned his hearing and picked up a soft heartbeat. Sesshoumaru froze, his tracks stopping dead when he sensed a familiar youki. He followed his senses, withdrawing both his aura and scent. He stepped silently, the soothing scent of water, mist and greenery leading him to the river. He stopped dead when he saw Ishiru discard her yukata and bindings.

"Tonight, I'll just relax. I've worked enough for now. That bastard never gives me any time off." Sesshoumaru heard her murmur as she folded her clothes on the boulder beside her.

'So,' He thought. 'She doesn't not like Naraku, even if she is serving him. No doubt she let go of her concealing spells when she decided she would rest.' He watched, well hidden, as she slid into the water and swam about.

He monitored her ever movement as Ishiru played in the river waters. After a time, he found he didn't really want to leave. That surprised him. Why should he want to stay and watch her? The wench had no hold on him! Just to prove it, he straightened and turned to leave.

His sleeve caught on a bush and tugged.

Sesshoumaru froze, hoping Ishiru hadn't heard. He looked back to her in time to see her ear twitch, then nothing else. She had heard him. Sesshoumaru knew it. He himself had taught her not to act like she knew anything in such situations. But, he was almost certain that she did not know it was him. With no scent or aura to go on, she couldn't possibly know.

He watched as she lifted the ball of water into the air. He tensed, waiting to have to dodge the thing. When she shot it off to the side, he was slightly confused. Then he thought. 'She is probably compensating for where I would have moved in that time.'

He relaxed slightly, and waited, hoping for an opportunity to leave without her noticing.

He wasn't expecting the sharp splash of water that hit the back of his head.

oOo

Ishiru opened her eyes and whirled to face where she had heard the orb connect with its target. She couldn't see just what she had hit, but she was now on her guard. She withdrew her scent and aura, just as a precaution, and drifted through the water towards her clothes.

Sesshoumaru on the other hand, was stunned. She had masked the youki needed to propel the orb with her overall aura, and fooled him into thinking that he was safe for the time being. Had he grown so slack in his skills? He shook his head, ridding it of most of the water. When he looked up again, Ishiru had her yukata back on and had moved from the boulders to the rugged yet grassy terrain beyond the rocks, facing him.

"Come out. I know you're there." She growled. She did not have any idea who it was. But she knew that they were both a demon, and powerful. Only demons of great power could hide their scent, and Ishiru smelt nothing but the river and greenery around her.

Sesshoumaru gave a mental sigh of "defeat" and stepped from the foliage, locking his eyes with hers.

Ishiru nearly faltered in her stance when she saw him emerge from the greenery. But she held firm, bringing up her mental "defenses" in hopes that she would avoid an incident like the last. She was a goner as soon as his eyes met hers.

Sesshoumaru saw her tense. 'So, she is still unsteady around me' He thought. A mischievous thought came to his mind.

Ishiru took a step back when Sesshoumaru took one towards her. He took another. So did she. This continued until she was backed up against a boulder. Sesshoumaru kept walking until he was less than an arm's reach from her. He lifted a hand, his claws slightly extended, moving a little closer. He moved his hand so his claws glinted in the moonlight.

"Your skills have become rusty." He whispered. "I could kill you right now and you'd be helpless to stop me." As he spoke, he gently touched his claws to her cheek, then throat.

Ishiru snapped out of her little daze when his claw touched her neck. 'So, he wants to play?' She thought. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she couldn't bring herself to believe that he would actually kill her. 'I can play too.' Ishiru thought, grinning mentally. No pretenses, no tricks, nothing different from before. Just a spar, like they used to do. 'Let's forget. If only for a moment.'

"I will admit that they have." She said. "I have not had a challenging opponent in the longest of times. So it is only natural that my skills would deteriorate." In a flash of movement, Ishiru knocked his hand away, leaping up and over him, away from the boulders. "Let's test them, shall we?"

Sesshoumaru grinned mentally. 'So, not quite so unsteady.' He thought before darting towards her. His motions were blurred as he grabbed hold of her wrist, pulling her arm away from the side it was guarding. Ishiru, rather than be vulnerable, kept her arm in place and was pulled to the side. She then ducked, and slid under his arm, forcing him to release her. She snatched the instant he took to turn and slashed her claws through his armor, shattering his breastplate. She then leapt back, barely avoiding an agile strike of Sesshoumaru's claws, and loosing a bit of her sleeve to the attack.

oOo

Naraku summoned Kanna to his chambers. The child arrived within minutes and knelt before her master.

"Show me Ishiru." He commanded. Kanna didn't move as the mirror began to glimmer. After a moment, Ishiru appeared in the glass. Naraku's eyes narrowed as he saw what she was doing. Sesshoumaru moved in to attack her, his claws slicing through the air just beside Ishiru's face. She countered, a strike of her claws taking out some of his sleeve and the remaining fragments of his armor.

Naraku grinned in satisfaction. So, she still held a grudge against the demon lord. It had been Naraku's intent to check on her, and make sure she was chasing the shards as her note had said. Her actions over the few days before had made him slightly wary of her. But this. . . This somewhat eased his worries. A few more displays like this and he might start sending her on more important chores.

Though he knew that Ishiru could not defeat the demon lord, Naraku was confident that she could hold her own, and flee should she begin to loose. Satisfied, he sent Kanna away.

oOo

'Her attacks are light and fast, faster than I remember. It seems that that is all she has been training though. If I can get a good hold on her. . .' Sesshoumaru thought. He moved to the side, avoiding a quick strike.

"Rin misses you." He said. Ishiru froze, thrown completely off guard. Sesshoumaru acted quickly, his movements nearly invisible. He took hold of the striking wrist and pulled her across his front, taking hold of her other wrist moving her arm to cross her belly. He then pulled her tight against him, immobilizing her. Ishiru struggled for a moment, then relaxed.

"You cheated."

oOo

Sesshoumaru, to his credit, listened patiently while Ishiru told him what had happened. He and Ishiru had found a flatter area near the river to sit. Well, Sesshoumaru was sitting. Ishiru was too tired to remain fully upright and was leaning, half lying down, against a boulder.

Sesshoumaru watched her as she spoke to him. She was tired, that he could easily see. But what surprised him most of all, was how relaxed she was. Did she trust him that much? Her position was so, comfortable. He had not seen anyone like that around him, save for Rin. But Rin was a child and did not understand most dangers. Ishiru was fully aware of his strength, yet she held no fear of him. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Ishiru's posture became slightly tense.

"Did. . . Does Rin really miss me? Or did you just say that to throw me off?" Ishiru asked, looking at the ground. Sesshoumaru didn't answer for a moment.

"Yes she does." He said. Ishiru bit her lower lip in guilt. Sesshoumaru saw this. "And Jaken misses having someone to distract her." He said. Ishiru grinned, a soft laugh spilling from her lips. Then, she stopped and looked up at him, her surprise evident.

Where the hell did that come from? Sesshoumaru had no idea just why he had said it. It wasn't important at all, nor did it have anything to do with her question. But, he did enjoy her laughter. Wait, what? 'This Sesshoumaru does not care whether she is happy or not.' But. . . He had felt some need to erase her guilt. 'No I didn't.' Sesshoumaru thought vehemently.

'Why did he say that?' She thought. 'I didn't ask about Jaken at all. Did he want to cheer me up? . . . No, that's not like him. So why did he say it?' Ishiru watched as faint ghosts of emotions flickered one by one in his eyes, nowhere on his face but his eyes. Anyone else would have missed them. But Ishiru knew how to look. She was about to voice her question when Sesshoumaru spoke.

"Why were you afraid?" He asked, looking pointedly away from her. Ishiru thought for a moment. How did she want to answer him?

"I. . . I don't know." She said finally, her eyes trained on the ground. It was the truth. She really didn't know why. Sesshoumaru seemed to accept her answer, then changed the subject again.

"We will meet here again." He said. "Your training has become slack in your absence. In exchange for my help in defeating Naraku, you and I will spar each night at this place." Ishiru looked up at him. At the beginning of all this, she hadn't expected him to want anything to do with her. Now, not only was he going to help her, but he would start training with her again. Wait. . . That didn't really seem like much of an exchange. Ishiru thought it better not to say anything about that though.

Sesshoumaru stood and Ishiru followed suit. She bowed to him. "Arigatou gosaimashita, Sesshoumaru-sama." She said, using the formal behaviors he had taught her. Sesshoumaru looked at her for a moment.

"It is a deal. You need not thank me." He said. Ishiru straightened.

"I know." She said, a small smile on her lips. After a moment, she spoke again. "I had best be going. If Naraku checks on me and I'm with you, he'll suspect. Goodnight Sesshoumaru." Ishiru turned to go.

"Wait." Sesshoumaru's voice was commanding, but not harsh. Ishiru stopped automatically, then turned to face him. He pulled something from his robes, an item wrapped in cloth, and handed it to her.

"You forgot this." He said, then left, almost vanishing.

Ishiru looked at the little bundle in her hands, then carefully unwrapped it, fold by fold. The cloth fell away and Ishiru stared at the item in her hands. The silver wings fluttered softly, the tiny gem drops twinkling in the moonlight. Ishiru smiled a truly radiant smile and hugged it to her chest. She wrapped it back in the cloth and tucked the little parcel into her obi.

Ishiru settled down in a thicker patch of grass to sleep for the night. Just as she was about to drift off, something occurred to her.

'Neither of us were expecting to meet tonight, but he still had it with him.'


	9. Chapter 9

**Meant To Be**

By Onira

**Chapter Nine : "You'll Love What's Next"**

For a while, a month or so, that was how things went. Ishiru ran the occasional errand for Naraku, detouring to plan with Inuyasha-tachi, letting Naraku trust her more and more. In the evenings she would spar with Sesshoumaru, learning new techniques and improving her skills. It seemed like a pretty nice set up, if you ignored the ever-lingering issue Naraku posed.

On a particularly peaceful evening, Ishiru reclined on a low hung tree branch, twice as thick around as she was, staring up through the greenery at the moonlit sky. It was a full moon, the time when Ishiru always felt at her best. She slid down from the tree branch, her bare feet silently touching the grass below. She moved out from her perch, moving around the low branches of the ancient tree.

oOo

Erisa was getting pretty annoyed. They were taking too long! Sesshoumaru should have been happily mated with Ishiru long before!

"Stupid Naraku person. . . He's served his purpose in all this. But now he won't go away! I'm gonna have to think of something soon." She said, waving away her view portal.

"Maybe this whole thing won't work after all. . ." Erisa wondered aloud.

oOo

Ishiru moved out into the open air, turning her eyes up to the full moon's face. She smiled softly and pranced about in the moonlight. She danced to a soft tune that she had made up. Her actions were purely impulsive. She felt no real reason to dance, other than that she wanted to.

She felt something strange filling her, as though she were soaking up the moonlight. Ishiru felt it building up in her, gathering in her chest. It felt like something was being drawn from her fingertips, arms, being pulled into her breast. She began to feel it, whatever it was, moving up into her head. A bright light began to spill from her forehead and Ishiru ended her dance, trying to look up at the source of the light.

She raised a hand to her forehead, her fingertips brushing a warm, smooth something on her skin. Ishiru covered the thing on her forehead, silencing the light while she ran to a nearby river. Leaning over the bank, she looked at her reflection.

A gem, smooth and gently shimmering, rested on her forehead, just below the center. As the light began to fade, Ishiru examined it further. It was oval shaped and a deep, dark blue, like the markings on her face. The gem was small, barely a half a centimeter in width. Ishiru poked at the gem, utterly perplexed at its existence. It didn't move when she touched it. It was attached to her skull, not simply on her skin. She moved away from the water, sitting back on her heels.

"What am I anyway. . . ?" She wondered aloud.

"Who?" Sesshoumaru's voice startled her slightly. Ishiru turned to face him. He had snuck up on her again. He was the first thing she remembered, other than Rin. Surely he. . .

"Sesshoumaru. . ." Ishiru said, standing up and walking up to him. "What am I?" Sesshoumaru looked slightly puzzled by her question.

"You are a demon." He said after a moment.

"I know that. But. . . You're an inu youkai. Am I one too?" She asked. Sesshoumaru was a little unsure as to why she was asking all of a sudden. He had never really thought about what type of demon she was. He took a breath, searching her scent. He suddenly gave her a very pointed look. Her scent had changed. Before it had been just a blend of mist and plants, like a spring morning before the fog leaves. Now he picked up a hint of spices. . . Magic. Her powers were increasing.

Ishiru, while under his scrutiny, had become a little nervous. He was giving her a strange look. Almost as soon as she began to feel anxious, he stopped and looked away.

"No, you are not." He said. Ishiru wasn't satisfied with his answer.

"So, what kind am I?" She asked.

"Your scent does not tell." He replied. Ishiru looked at him. He was still looking away from her. She looked where he was looking, then back at him. He looked so serious and Ishiru couldn't help but want to get him to loosen up. An idea popped into her mind. While he was looking elsewhere, Ishiru inconspicuously braced her feet on the ground.

Pounce!

Ishiru pinned him to the ground, surprising the hell out of Sesshoumaru. For a moment, he just lay there, looking at her. Her eyes held mischief and triumph. He kept himself from grinning as she rolled off him.

"Gotcha." Ishiru said. "You have to pay attention all the time." She teased, quoting one of his lessons.

'Tease me will she.' Sesshoumaru thought. He pounced upon her, much in the same way she had him, pinning her to the grass covered ground. Ishiru grinned at him.

"Now, with you it makes no difference whether I am paying attention or not, so it doesn't count." She said, smirking playfully at him. Sesshoumaru looked down at her. Ishiru's bangs hung out to the sides, exposing her forehead. Sesshoumaru immediately noticed the little gem on her forehead.

"What is that?" He asked, nodding at the little jewel. Ishiru looked up at her forehead.

"I'm not sure. It appeared a little while ago, just before you got here." She said. Sesshoumaru got off her and Ishiru reached up and fiddled with the little gem.

Sesshoumaru scented the gem, finding it to be none of Naraku's doing, which he had initially suspected. He extended an analysis spell towards Ishiru, who stopped messing around with the jewel when she saw the youki drifting towards her. The spell was almost drawn towards the gem, swirling around it once before firmly attaching. Sesshoumaru tensed when he felt his spell being pulled in, dragging the fringes of his youki along with it. He immediately cut it off, separating completely from the spell.

Ishiru looked at him in concern when she saw his spell get sucked into the little gem. She hadn't meant to do that. But she felt some new energy flowing in her, conflicting slightly with her own before being converted and merged.

"I didn't mean to do that." She said hastily. Sesshoumaru was looking straight at her.

'What in the nine hells is that thing?' Sesshoumaru thought. It felt like it would take hold of all his energy had he not disconnected it. After a moment, he spoke. He looked quizzically at the gem.

"Hold still." He said, then formed a small ball of his youki, directing it towards the gem in question. He carefully gauged the distance at which it began to move of it's own accord, then where it was no longer in his control. It was quickly pulled into the gem. Sesshoumaru could sense Ishiru's energy increase a few moments after.

"You do the same." He said. Ishiru blinked, startled out of thought, then followed his instructions. Her youki ball simply hovered in front of the jewel.

Well this was certainly an interesting discovery. . .

oOo

Later that evening, sometime near midnight, Ishiru returned to Naraku's castle as she had been ordered. Her soft footsteps trailed down the hallway towards Naraku's chamber. She slid the door panel aside, not entering the room, but standing in the doorframe. Naraku was facing the window on the other side of the room.

"I have returned Naraku. What is it you want?" She said. When she spoke, Naraku turned to face her. He gave her a once over. Her hair was slightly disheveled from running. His eyes alit immediately on the little jewel on her forehead.

"What is that?" He demanded, standing and approaching her.

"I don't know." She said. "It appeared some time this evening." Ishiru thought it best to leave him out of the loop as far as just what the gem did.

Naraku moved to stand right in front of her. He raised a hand and brushed away her bangs to get a better look and his fingers brushed the little jewel.

Naraku had only a moment to feel his energy rushing out of him before he fell to his knees. He struggled to maintain consciousness for a brief moment, steeling himself enough to lift his head. He would have growled, enraged at Ishiru. He looked up and found her on the ground, her hands pressing against the gem and whimpering softly. It was evident that she had not done it intentionally. Naraku let go of his anger towards her, finding a slight, albeit sick, pleasure in seeing her in pain after harming him.

Ishiru, as soon as Naraku's youki entered her system, felt a burning sensation in her veins. It was not pain, not quite, but something close. She waited a moment for it to go away. But it didn't. Her body struggled to convert the energy. But the vast amount made it take longer as well as how great the difference was between her energies and Naraku's. Her muscles wouldn't listen to her, seizing up and keeping her curled up on the floor. She was like that for a few more moments before she felt it dissipate enough for her to get up.

"Gomen Nasai Naraku-sama. I did not know that would happen." She said, still halfway on her knees.

"Leave." Was all Naraku said. Ishiru did so, moving carefully as her limbs were still unsteady.

Naraku moved back to his place by the window, pondering at the gem's capabilities. Absorbing any youki that came near it, that certainly had prospect. The gem had been his initial reason for taking the girl. Now, instead of finding power, he found something of much greater potential. He doubted he would be able to take the gem. But there was no way that he would be able to convince Ishiru to go along with what he would want her to do. He was careful not to send her on errands that would require actual killing, and he had noticed that when killing would have made a mission easier, she would take the harder way around and avoid it.

Naraku had a thought and grinned. He called up one of his newer servants.

"Your kind possess the ability to create controlling poisons, correct?" He said, his eyes turning to the plant user.

"Of course." Otsuma said, his bright red eyes glinting maliciously.

oOo

It was only two days later that Naraku called her back once again. Ishiru thought it strange, and returned warily. Had she been discovered? 'Well. . .' She thought. 'I suppose it won't matter since everything is already in place.' She had finalized everything with Inuyasha's group, Kouga and Sesshoumaru. Ishiru knew of a plan Naraku had that would increase his power, but make him vulnerable for that night. On the full moon, in another day, they would attack. 'Naraku will not survive.' Ishiru thought, resisting the slight urge to growl in anticipation and anger.

Ishiru stopped her train of thought as she reached the door. She took a moment to calm herself, masking her aura, but not enough to seem untrusting. Only once she was sure she would not be suspected further, if she already had, did she slide the door panel aside.

"Yes Naraku-sama," Ishiru said as she took a step in. "For what purpose did you summon me?" Naraku was at the other side of the room as usual, facing the window. He did not reply. Ishiru waited for a minute before speaking again, dropping all formalities. "Naraku, if you called me here just to stare outside I'm leaving."

Ishiru picked up the barely audible whiz of a needle through the air a split instant too late. The silent-dart, fashioned from only a needle to minimize air noise, slid into the skin of her neck. It lingered for only an instant before Ishiru pulled it out. During that, Naraku turned to face her.

"What the hell is this?" She demanded. Naraku didn't speak. He only grinned at her. Ishiru was puzzled for a moment, then she felt the poisons take effect.

For a moment, Ishiru felt as though she were weightless, then her limbs began to tingle and numb. Her first emotion was fear, then panic. What the hell was going on with her body? She backed away from Naraku, her movements slightly uncoordinated. She took a firm hold of the doorframe, mustering enough control to snarl at the hanyou. Naraku only smirked.

"Oh? If you think this is frightening you'll love what's next." As he spoke Naraku stood, walking over to her. Ishiru glared at him, growling viciously. Naraku stopped just out of arm's reach.

Then she felt the odd numbing sensation creep into her mind. Her eyes widened in alarm. Ishiru shoved herself from the doorway, away from Naraku. She crashed backwards into the corridor wall about a yard and a half away from the doorway in which Naraku now stood. Ishiru felt something prying into her mind. She let herself fall to her knees, concentrating on blocking out whatever it was that Naraku had put in her.

"Is it working yet?" A voice came from behind her. Ishiru recognized it immediately. Otsuma's feet appeared in the corner of her sight.

"You said she wouldn't be able to fight." Naraku's voice was cold. "Yet I see her resisting. Why is this Otsuma?" The plant user shrugged. "You're poisons are insufficient Otsuma. Leave us."

"Maybe that Sesshoumaru guy you set her up with taught her about it." Otsuma's reply was casual, even as he went back down the hallway.

Ishiru already knew about Naraku's scheme and all it entailed. But she couldn't let Naraku know that. She mustered what control she had left and glared at Naraku.

"You. . ." She growled. Naraku's glare intensified.

"Yes, I." He growled. He caught Ishiru's wrist as she lashed out at him, dragging her up and shoving her back against the wall. "Are we angry? Is little Ishiru mad that I took her away from her precious Sesshoumaru?" He taunted. Ishiru growled, struggling to summon her venom, which was beginning to appear on her palm.

"That won't work love." Naraku whispered, leaning in close to her. Ishiru jumped as she felt his youki pouring into her from his hands. Her venom hissed and vanished as she felt what little of her youki she had become overpowered. She growled and tried to shove him off her. Naraku's youki had begun to control her muscles and Ishiru was only able to push weakly against him.

After a few more moments, she couldn't move on her own. Naraku released her and Ishiru felt her body move to stand in front placidly of him.

'No. . .' She thought. 'What is he going to make me do?'

"Oh, nothing much my little Ishiru." Naraku said. Ishiru would have jumped in surprise. 'He can read my thoughts!' He laved his tongue across her neck and bit her sharply bit her ear. "Just whatever I want you to." Ishiru yelped inwardly when he bit her, both confused and disgusted at his behavior. She had no idea why he had licked her like that. Naraku made her stand straight and look up at him.

"What's this?" Naraku said, his expression a mixture of surprise and a sick sort of happiness. "It would seem that little Ishiru knows nothing." He grinned at her and she saw something in his eyes that she couldn't quite identify, but was undeniably scared of. Ishiru felt him probing through her mind, reading her thoughts and memories like a book. She was helpless to do anything but stand there. Naraku straightened after a minute or so of pawing through her mind.

"Well well. It would seem as though little Ishiru already knew about my little ploy." He said, mocking her. "This is most excellent." He took hold of her chin in two fingers, tilting her head up to face him. "But, before I put you to use. . ." Naraku trailed off, not finishing his sentence as his eyes became clouded with thought. Ishiru felt a strange, husky aura emanating from the hanyou. She would have shuddered if she had the means. For the first time since she could remember, Ishiru was truly afraid. She felt suffocated. She couldn't express the emotions that were beginning to smother her. Her mind was a frazzled mess, not unlike a room after it's been raided. She still felt the disorienting floating, numb sensation all throughout her body. She found that Naraku was making her look at him and poured all her anger and hatred of him into her eyes. Naraku must have seen it because he spoke just after.

"A day is left, my little Ishiru. Plenty of time to change your attitude towards me."


	10. Chapter 10

**Meant To Be**

By Onira

**Chapter Ten : The Finale**

Sesshoumaru arrived at the clearing that night, wondering briefly where Ishiru was before leaning against a tree just out of sight to wait. He did not wait long. Ishiru arrived with a cloth over her forehead and eyes.

"Why over your eyes as well?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"It's no different from when I was blind." Ishiru replied, tugging the cloth into place. "Besides, it's good for training."

They went through their training that night, their battle leading them across the riverbank and up a massive tree nearby. They reached the top, still battling when a horde of Naraku's demons sailed above their heads, heading towards Naraku's fortress. They both looked to follow the demon's paths.

"It's time." Said Ishiru, leaping down from the tree, Sesshoumaru soon following. They both darted across the landscape, moving towards Naraku's palace. After a time, they split, Sesshoumaru moving to his pre-planned place for the attack. As soon as the sun released the twilight upon the land, they would attack. Ishiru kept going to the fortress, to the place where she would guard Naraku. Sesshoumaru watched her disappear into the foliage as she went on her way.

This was it. That night Naraku would die and Ishiru would return with him to his fortress, as things were meant to be. 'Wait. . . Meant to be?' Sesshoumaru was surprised at his own thoughts. 'Do I really care about her that much?' He asked himself, his pace slowing slightly. 'Yes. . . I do care about her that much. I don't want her to ever leave.' He realized, startled into stopping. 'Has this Sesshoumaru become so weak?' He thought bitterly. Then, yet another epiphany occurred. 'Only for her. She is my only weakness. But she is not a weakness I wish to purge… She will no longer be in danger after this night. She will return with me, and be my mate.' With that thought, he sped off to his destination to await the twilight.

oOo Naraku's Fortress oOo

Ishiru arrived at the fortress, going immediately to her chambers. She slid the door panel shut, and collapsed to the floor, Naraku's control over her released. She slammed a fist against the door, only to be sharply zapped by wards. She growled, moving away from the wall.

"You can't keep me in here!" She shouted, knowing Naraku would hear. She spent a good twenty minutes shouting, kicking and simply going all out against the walls. It only left her tired and crying in the middle of the floor. In her fury she had long before shed the blindfold, and her deep emerald eyes spilled tears of both anger and sadness down her striped cheeks.

"I hate you. . ." She whispered, her forehead against the wooden panels of the floor. Months before Sesshoumaru had taught her that word, the word reserved for those she found most wicked. 'He deserves worse. His crimes are to much for words.' She swung her head up, shouting to the ceiling. "I hate you!"

oOo Twilight oOo

It was time. The first pale purple glow had begun to show across the night sky. One by one the groups moved in on Naraku's fortress.

Inuyasha-tachi approached from the east, the twilight's strength at their backs. Kagura was waiting for them. She had her little army of the undead. But she had picked the weakest things she could find for her legion. And she released many of them from her spell after only one hit, leaving them lifeless on the battleground.

It was not long before Inuyasha's group had worn through the undead army. Sesshoumaru approached from the north, meeting Kohaku and a small army of Naraku's weaker spawn. He moved the boy-child out of the way and made quick work of Naraku's children with Sorryuha, Toukijin's ultimate attack. Both he and Kohaku made their way towards the palace. Sesshoumaru was still, naturally, somewhat wary of the boy.

Kouga and his tribe advanced from the cliff-side of the fortress. Naraku had left that side guarded by only a myriad few hawk demons, trusting the cliffs to deter any real attack. It was not long before they had rid themselves of the hawk demons and reached the top of the cliffs. No one approached from the east or south, for that was Hakudoshi's place and Ishiru would never have gone to him for help.

The sky had opted for a lighter shade of the blue purple pre-dawn as they all advanced upon the fortress. They gathered at the front gates, quickly and quietly disposing of the guards. Needless to say, Inuyasha wasn't involved in the disposal of the two sentinels, as his methods were hardly quiet. Once within the gates, they stood in a courtyard of sorts. Across the way was the main building. Ishiru sat cross-legged in the center of the doorway, just in front of the closed panel. The blindfold was still across her eyes, but, oddly enough, was not covering the little gem on her forehead.

This puzzled Sesshoumaru. Why was she still wearing it? And, that point beside, why was it not covering the jewel?

"Ishiru." Inuyasha was the first to call out. "Where is Naraku?" The hanyou was eager. All of them were. Ishiru stood, and slid the door panel aside.

"Follow me." She said, her voice quiet. "I will lead you too him." Kagura joined her at the front of the group, as she also knew the many pathways of Naraku's fortress. Ishiru lead them down, deep into the palace. Soon, they were below ground. Sesshoumaru was not the only one to notice this. Kagura spoke up first.

"Ishiru, Naraku's original place was on the first floor, wasn't it?" She asked, turning her red eyes to the girl beside her.

"It was. But Naraku became nervous a day ago." Ishiru replied, still walking. "Perhaps he caught something from Kohaku's mind. I think he wanted to use the labyrinth to confuse anyone who did get past his defenses." The boy Kohaku was not with them, lest Naraku try to use him against Sango. Sango, on the other hand, knew nothing of Kohaku's involvement, or that he had freed his mind from Naraku's grip. She made the connection quickly.

"Kohaku is-" Ishiru cut her off.

"Yes. He has his mind back. He does not remember much. But I did not want him here should Naraku use him against you." When the tajiya looked like she would protest, Ishiru continued. "You can see him once we have defeated Naraku. He is safer on the surface away from the battle." At that, Sango nodded in agreement. The group continued down the maze. After a time they came to a small door. It was along the side of a long hallway, not at the end so not to seem obvious. Ishiru slid the panel aside and stepped in, motioning for the others to go to the side and keep out of sight. They did, moving to almost encircle the undulating mass of miasma and flesh that was Naraku.

"Naraku, that hanyou you spoke of and the wolf tribe are attacking the fortress." She said, walking up to Naraku until she was only a few yards from him. A face began to form in the myriad flesh, then a torso, and arms. Naraku's form turned to look at her.

"Is that all, Ishiru?" Naraku asked, a slight smirk in his voice.

"No." She admitted. "Sesshoumaru is among them." She said, spitting out the name hatefully. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at that, thinking it sounded a little bit harsh. But he knew that it was part of her act.

"Good girl. Now go take care of them." Naraku replied, withdrawing back into the mass of revolting flesh and shouki.

"Of course, Naraku-sama." Ishiru turned to face the others, taking her mace-whip from her obi. "With pleasure." In one fluid movement she swung the weapon, sending the mace in a wide arc. The spiked ball traveled across the group behind her, and would have gored them if they hadn't ducked out of its way. Inuyasha grabbed Kagome, pulling her down with him. Kouga leapt out of the way, as did his followers. All but one, who was gored by the spiked metal sphere.

Sesshoumaru leapt towards the ceiling, thunderstruck. How? No. . . That wasn't the question. Why? Why Ishiru? Why are you doing this? It didn't matter. Sesshoumaru growled. Naraku would be defeated. He would be destroyed, or they would all die.

The western lord darted towards Ishiru, who was preoccupied with the others. She spun at the last moment, managing to get away with a small scratch just beside her eye. The blindfold fell away and Ishiru looked to Sesshoumaru, her black-green eyes glaring.

Wait. Black-green? Of course! Naraku was controlling her. 'But how did he manage. . . The jewel. Naraku overloaded her with his shouki.' Sesshoumaru backed away from her, concentrating his attacks on Naraku's shifting body.

As he made the first strike, masses of tentacles sprang forth from the putrid mass. The battle became gained a chaotic, almost frenzied feel. Each was barely holding their own. Kouga's tribe had lost three. Inuyasha had received his share of wounds, as did every other. Kagome, protected by Miroku, was firing arrow after arrow, lighting up the battle with their warm pink lights. Sango was with Kirara, both defending one another. Ishiru went after Sesshoumaru.

The two met. Ishiru drew a blade from her leg bindings, striking at Sesshoumaru in strong, powerful attacks. That solidified Sesshoumaru's theory. Ishiru fought with light, fast, and calculated attacks. Her movements were brazen, forceful, not unlike his half brother's. Sesshoumaru restricted her movements just as easily as he had Inuyasha's many times before. The pair slammed against the mass of tissue that was Naraku, immediately being covered by sweeping flesh and tentacles. For a moment, Sesshoumaru was surprised that the gem on her forehead was not pulling at his youki. Then a dark, glasslike half-sphere began to show around it. 'A barrier.'

"Let her go!" Sesshoumaru snarled, looking at the eyes that he knew Naraku could see out of. Naraku smiled through her.

Ishiru, trapped within her own body, was in a very different state of mind than Naraku made her appear to be. 'Stop! Please! Just let me go! You'll die!' She screamed mentally, wishing Sesshoumaru would year her. Naraku smirked.

"Your love wants you to stop, to 'just let her go.'" He said, goading Sesshoumaru. "She doesn't want you." Sesshoumaru's expression faltered, not enough for the untrained eye to notice. But Ishiru's eyes were trained to pick up his emotions. Ishiru was horrified. 'No! Oh gods, no!'

"She's crying Sesshoumaru." Naraku said, taunting him. He drew them deeper into the heap of flesh pulling the pair apart as he opened up a small chamber within the mass. He gave himself a form, standing behind Ishiru, who looked over her shoulder at him, her expression seductive. He draped an arm over her shoulders the other going to Ishiru's hip, pulling her to him. He kept Sesshoumaru locked at the other side of the little chamber, tentacles wrapping around his forearms just out of the reach of his venom.

Naraku smirked at the demon lord, his hand moving from Ishiru's waist to her thigh, roughly caressing her pale skin. Sesshoumaru snarled, pulling at the restraints. Naraku gave him a smug look.

"You see this Sesshoumaru? Do you see what will never be yours?" As he spoke his hands ventured, his touches more brazen and rough as he went. He brushed Ishiru's jet-black locks away from a shoulder, exposing her neck. "Did you want to taste this sweet flesh?" Naraku ran his tongue along Ishiru's pale skin, his eyes closing as he growled in pleasure. Ishiru's body was made to moan, and tilt her head to the side.

Sesshoumaru was on the brink of losing control. How dare Naraku touch what was his? His eyes began to cloud over with red. But he couldn't transform in there. The room was far too small, despite the fact that it held the battle with room to spare. (Which, may I remind the reader, is still raging outside) He couldn't transform and he couldn't get free. Naraku was going to take Ishiru right before his eyes and he was helpless to do anything.

Ishiru could still see, and feel. She shuddered inwardly at Naraku's touch. 'Stop it! Stop!' She shouted, wishing he would hear. 'I don't want him! Sesshoumaru!' She saw him look away, his bangs covering his face. 'He's giving up?' Ishiru thought helplessly. 'He really thinks that I-' Her thoughts came to a halt. Naraku's hand had made its way to her center and was roughly working her flesh. 'No. . .'

"NOOO!" Ishiru screamed, a burst of energy springing from her body as she purged herself of Naraku's shouki. Naraku was thrown back with the force of her anger. The hanyou struggled to get up, pushing himself to his feet as he drew energy from the mass around him. Ishiru ignored him, going immediately to Sesshoumaru's side, tearing away the restraints. She took a step back, hanging her head.

"Sesshoumaru I – I didn't. . . I couldn't let him. . . I'm so sorry." She said, her tears returning. Sesshoumaru only moved to stand between her and Naraku.

"Now is not the time for this." He said curtly and Ishiru nodded turning to face Naraku as well. Sesshoumaru drew Toukijin, bringing it up for Sorryuha, intending to destroy Naraku once and for all.

"Ah. Silly you for forgetting that I prefer to have insurance." Naraku chuckled. "Careful Sesshoumaru. Wouldn't want to hurt your little ward." As Naraku spoke, Aisumii appeared from within the undulating mass around them, holding Rin in her arms. Sesshoumaru halted his attack at once. The little girl was in a drugged sleep, her body limp in the nymphs grip. Ishiru's eyes lit with anger, her stance widening as she snarled at Aisumii. The nymph brushed off Ishiru's glare and handed the unconscious human to Naraku.

"I'll kill you." Ishiru whispered, her rage hushing her voice. She darted towards Naraku, her movements almost invisible. She barely plucked Rin from his grip, still loose since he hadn't time to react to Ishiru's attack. She had barely gotten away from him when a vine looped around her ankle. Ishiru crashed to the ground, her momentum gone. She shielded Rin's body with her own as she landed, rolling up to push herself up on her remaining free foot. Ishiru reached down and burned the vine away with her venom, straightening to see Sesshoumaru destroying a tentacle that was about to attack her.

Ishiru looked about for a place to put the Rin, but nowhere was safe as the entire room was made of Naraku's flesh. She cut the spiked ball from her mace-whip and used the strong cord to tie the child to her back, leaving her arms free.

They fought. Aisumii soon was rather worse for the wear, sporting her share of wounds, all inflicted by Ishiru. Ishiru gave one final attack at Aisumii, her claws cutting through the plant user's throat. But, as she pulled her hand from the bloody mess, she felt the cord holding Rin to her loosen and fall away. She spun. Naraku had Rin, a tentacle holding her against the far wall of the little chamber.

Ishiru missed the white-pink blur to her right. The purifying arrow burst through the wall of flesh and whizzed just in front of her forehead. A crack, like glass tapped with a tiny metal hammer, was heard from the barrier around the gem. Then the barrier shattered and the arrow went on its way through Naraku's miasmic flesh into the wall behind. Ishiru looked out at Kagome. She and the group weren't doing very well. Miroku was visibly wearing out, unable to use Kazanna in the enclosed space. Kirara was bloody and favoring a hind leg. Kouga had few followers left. Sango was panting, her sword blade broken, and using only Hiraikotsu.

They would loose this battle. Sesshoumaru, Rin, Kagome, all of them would die. Ishiru looked at Naraku, who had come to the same conclusion and was grinning malevolently. Ishiru wiped the sweat from her forehead, trying to come up with a plan. She felt the gem on her brow. But if she took in all of Naraku. . . It didn't matter.

Ishiru moved to stand in front of Naraku, glaring up at him. She leapt up at him, landing lightly on a rise of flesh that his form stood upon. Ishiru looked up at Naraku's smirking, jet black eyes.

"So. Have you decided to chose the winning side?" Naraku asked. "I would still have you. Come, come to my side and be my mate." Ishiru didn't reply. She walked up to him, moving so her body was flush against his. Naraku grinned. All others in the room were dumbfounded. Ishiru looked up at Naraku, who wrapped an arm around her waist. "Now then, shall we continue where we left off?" He said, his other hand beginning to venture. Ishiru brought back a clawed hand, drawing her venom to her palm as she dug her fist into Naraku's chest, her claws curling around his heart.

"You will never touch me again." She growled, then ground her forehead against his, the gem coming in full contact with Naraku's brow.

The result was phenomenal. Dark purple and black materials came from all around the room, rushing into Naraku's form, attempting to replenish what was being drawn out. Naraku tried to pull away, but Ishiru kept a firm hold. She felt the shouki slowly poisoning her, but she paid it no heed. Wind whipped up from nowhere and swirled around her, following Naraku's energies into the gem. Soon, there was nothing left of the hanyou.

Rin lay on the ground where the flesh mass had released her. Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango and Kouga-tachi all were frozen by the spectacle. Sesshoumaru slowly approached Ishiru, who stood still where she had before. When Sesshoumaru was within a few feet, she turned to face him. Her movements were weak and broken and her breathing was ragged and irregular. She looked up at Sesshoumaru, giving him a weak smile.

The gem cracked, then fell away in glittering fragments. Ishiru wavered, then her eyes closed as she slowly fell. Sesshoumaru caught her. Her body was cold, too cold. Sesshoumaru moved a hand to her neck. Nothing. She had no pulse. His hand went to Tenseiga at his side. Again, nothing, the blade would not respond. Sesshoumaru's hand began to tremble and he forced it to stop. His mind was in a state of suspended in animation, neither acknowledging nor registering what was proven so plainly to him.

He didn't notice when the little fragments on the ground began to glow a faint blue. He only realized it when Ishiru's body began to glow the same hue. She began to glimmer in and out of existence and Sesshoumaru snarled. He wrapped her in his youki, holding Ishiru's limp body to his chest. Soon, the light extended to his form as well. The pair faded into nothing.

oOo

Erisa felt a little more relaxed now. Naraku was dead. The whole Ishiru thing would end. It wasn't working out anyway. Now all she had left to do is find another place for Ishiru's soul. Since such was common practice, as the child-goddess was not the best at making matches, she had a place where she kept the bodies and connected souls until she found a place.

A blue light flickered along the bed-like structure and Erisa turned around, intending to go and have another look over her map. She only made two steps before she was jerked into the air by her dress-collar.

"Yeeek!" Erisa shrieked, flailing her arms in response to the firm grip. Sesshoumaru resisted the urge to cover his ears at the offending noise. Instead, he turned the child-goddess to face him.

"Who are you?" He asked after taking a moment to assess his captive. Erisa was stunned. He wasn't supposed to be there! He was supposed to be back in Feudal Japan! How on earth did he get there? Erisa went with the last question.

"How – How did. . ." She pointed at Sesshoumaru with a shaky finger. Had her spell made a mistake? Erisa looked over and saw Ishiru's body on the structure in back of Sesshoumaru. Said demon lord was in no mood for the little girl's confused stuttering. He snarled at her, bringing her close to his face.

"What do you think you're doing with Ishiru?" Erisa 'eeped' and spoke, her voice rambling and jumbled from fear.

"WellI'msortathematchmakergoddessandfirstIwasgoingtomatchyouupwithherbutthenyoudidn'tcareabouthersoImadeitsoNarakuwoulddieandIshiruwouldbegoneandeverythingwouldgobacktothewayitwaspleasedon'thurtme!" Erisa finished the entire speech in one breath, panting at the end of it all. Sesshoumaru dropped her unceremoniously to the ground. Despite the speed of the delivery, he had understood what she had said.

"So. . . Ishiru was simply put on my path by some ragtag goddess?" He mused aloud. Ishiru's death had yet to register in his mind. His body was putting it off in order to help him survive, as was his instinct. Erisa stood up, dusting herself off, attempting to look regal.

"Yes. And there's pretty much nothing you can do about it since-" Her words were cut off as Sesshoumaru, once again, picked her up by her collar. This time he held the front of her little dress.

"This Sesshoumaru believes that he will be the one to decide just what he can and can't do." He spoke imperiously, his voice leaving no room for disobeying. "You will revive Ishiru. You will send us both back to Japan. And you will never again meddle with this Sesshoumaru's life again."

Erisa just nodded. Living alone, she had never developed any methods to deal with people, and Sesshoumaru's commanding presence was overriding any other behavior but obedience. Then something occurred to her.

"I can't bring her back to life." She protested. "I've never done it before." Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow as though to say "you're point?".

"I don't know what will happen. I could loose her soul forever. There's no way she'd be reincarnated." Erisa said quickly, trying to explain. Sesshoumaru seemed to think that over. After a moment, decision appeared in his eyes. He took a firm hold of Erisa, his fingers curling lethally around her neck. But he did not squeeze, or dig his claws in. He gently touched her skin in warning before he spoke.

"You will revive her. And you will do it correctly, or this Sesshoumaru shall kill you."

Erisa was startled. 'Isn't he worried about her at all?' But she didn't think about it for very long. Sesshoumaru released her and Erisa walked over to Ishiru's body, rubbing her throat.

She placed her tiny hand on Ishiru's forehead, closing her eyes as she searched for the demon girl's soul. It usually stayed around the body unless pulled elsewhere. She found it, oddly enough, hovering around Sesshoumaru. The process was unusually short and within moments Erisa was done.

"Now do whatever you did when you came here and I'll send you back."

Sesshoumaru complied. The flickering blue enveloped them both, merging with the two bodies and then flickering out, bringing them with it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Meant To Be**

By Onira

**Chapter Eleven : "I Can Teach This Girl Of Yours"**

A week had passed since the final battle. Sesshoumaru and Ishiru had yet to re-appear. Inuyasha-tachi had helped Kouga bury his dead. Kagura got her heart back, Kanna had died at some point during the battle. Hakudoshi was still about somewhere with Entei. Jaken, of course, was distraught at his master's disappearance. He ran about the countryside with Rin, who went with him courtesy of Ah-un. Rin was pretty bored during most of their wandering, even though she was quite worried about both Sesshoumaru and Ishiru. She frequently took her boredom out on Jaken, much to the bedraggled toad's dismay.

"Sesshoumaru-SAMA!" Jaken called, beginning to loose his voice after a week or so of shouting, save for when Rin was sleeping.

Rin was getting quite tired of his yelling. She turned to face backwards on Ah-un's back, watching the landscape retreat. She looked up, and out on a mountainside she saw a blue light flickering. It was too far away to see clearly. But Rin was sure she saw it.

"Ah! Jaken-sama! Look!" She said, pointing.

oOo

Sesshoumaru stirred into wakefulness, blinking away and odd, sleepy feeling that he hadn't had since he was a pup. He looked up, finding it to be dusk, the sun splashing gold and orange out across the sky. He moved to sit up, and felt a weight on his chest. Looking down, Sesshoumaru found Ishiru lying on top of him. Then, it came back to him, the battle, Erisa, Ishiru. He pulled said demoness into a sitting position in his lap. He heard her heartbeat and her slow, steady breathing. She was alive.

He felt his chest tighten, his throat closing up slightly. Finding it easier not to resist his emotions, Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around her, holding her to him. He stayed like that for some time. He wasn't sure quite how long. As the last dregs of orange and yellow faded from the sky, he felt the girl in his arms stir. Ishiru shifted slightly as she woke.

"Mmmnh... Sesshoumrr. ." She mumbled, still asleep. Ishiru instinctively snuggled against his warmth, her arms moving to curl around his torso. She then woke fully, her eyes fluttering open. After a moment, Ishiru realized what she was doing. She immediately tensed and took her arms from around Sesshoumaru, pulling back from him.

"Sesshoumaru I-!" She said, then gasped. Sesshoumaru watched as she pulled her arms in close to her torso, her hands together about level with her collarbone, looking downward as though shocked.

"It's alright Ishiru." He murmured, gathering her against his chest. "Naraku is dead, your life was spared." As he spoke he gently caressed her hair, comforting her.

"Sesshoumaru?" Ishiru said, her voice unsteady.

"Hmm?"

"I can't see."

oOo

About a month later, Ishiru had still not regained her sight. But she insisted she was getting better. She could see patches of light and dark. Although it was taking longer than the last time, her eyes were healing. On the morning of the new moon, Ishiru was in the dojo, training. Naraku's shouki had burned away a lot of her muscle structure, so she had to re-train them to usefulness.

"I swear. . ." Ishiru growled under her breath. "This happens," Hook kick, "Too many." Back flip, "Damned," Full force punch, "Times!" She struck out again, and was surprised when Sesshoumaru grabbed her kicking ankle.

"Ah, Sesshoumaru." She said, by way of greeting. The two of them had become much more informal over the course of time. "Glad to see you decided to join the land of the living." Ishiru teased. "Just how long _did_ you sleep?"

"This Sesshoumaru was not sleeping." He said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "He was thinking." With that, he pulled her towards him, by the ankle he still had not relinquished his hold upon. Ishiru was pulled off balance and Sesshoumaru caught her, pulling her against him and nudging her into the proper stance.

"And what were you thinking about?" Ishiru asked, still teasing. She danced away from him, moving back into stance once she was out of reach. She stood a little ways off, waiting for his reply. It didn't come.

Sesshoumaru stood stock still, a slightly shocked look on his face. Ishiru's scent had changed, and not the way it had when her magics were strengthening. The hue took a firmer hold over her misty, earthy scent. Like lavender, ginger and red whine, combined into a thick, heady aroma. He resisted the urge to put his hand to his forehead. Her scent was getting to him, playing with his mind, and his instincts. Ishiru frowned worriedly, wondering if something was wrong. She snapped her fingers to gain a relay image. She saw Sesshoumaru's expression and startled stance. She had only a moment to wonder at it before she heard him move. The snapping of her fingers had startled him out of his odd trance.

"Nothing." He said, finally replying to her initial question. He moved to stand just behind her, nudging her back into stance with his body. But he didn't move away that time. Sesshoumaru took hold of her wrists and guided Ishiru's body through a complex, slow, fluid dance that we now call Tai Chi. Ishiru closed her eyes, enjoying the gentle, fluid movements.

Sesshoumaru, on the other hand, was having… problems. His instincts were running rampant, unleashed by her scent. It took all of his willpower to resist them. He heard Ishiru sigh softly, tilting her head to the side in relaxation, still following his movements. Ishiru's yukata was loose-ish from her training, and with how he was tucked against her, the pale expanse of flesh on her neck was mere centimeters from his mouth.

Too much.

Ishiru felt his lips lightly brush the skin of her neck. She ignored it, thinking it an accident. But when his mouth descended fully, his mouth moving along her neck, tasting and nipping lightly, she froze. Sesshoumaru stopped with her and wrapped his arms possessively around her torso, lost in her scent. He licked hungrily at her neck, moving down to the firm muscle between her neck and shoulder. Ishiru felt him take the flesh in his mouth, biting down. The bite was not hard enough to break the skin, but enough so that Ishiru couldn't help but let out a soft moan in response.

The sound seemed to snap Sesshoumaru out of it and he released her, a little more harshly than he had intended. Without the support he had provided, Ishiru fell to her knees, finding her breathing to be quick and slightly ragged. Ishiru turned her upper body around, not really caring when the shoulder of her yukata slipped. She found Sesshoumaru several paces off, an odd look in his eyes.

Ishiru didn't have any idea what she was doing to the demon lord. It took every last shred of willpower he had not to grab the newly exposed upper arm and take her right there on the dojo floor. Ishiru was being drawn to him, the flame that was undeniably visible in his molten gold eyes tugging at her.

"Se. . . Sesshoumaru." She spoke, her voice breathy and soft, standing up and walking over to the demon lord. Sesshoumaru put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her approach at an arm's length away from him.

"You've trained enough for today." He said curtly, then turned around and left. Ishiru frowned at his retreating form. What had he just done? And why the devil did he stop?

oOo

Ishiru retired to the gardens, watching an overlarge koi fish swim about in a small pond as she lay on the surrounding rock garden. Its scales glinted red and orange in the afternoon light, charming Ishiru's eyes and keeping her attention from elsewhere. Without the training that ordinarily occupied at least half the day, the activities that took up the remaining time until dinner left her with far too much time on her hands. Her eyes rested at half-mast as she contemplated how Sesshoumaru had acted.

She watched as more koi fish of all sizes and colors joined the big one she had been watching. Her hair rested on the water, attracting them as they tried to nip at the black threads, only to release them upon discovering that they were not food. Ishiru smiled indulgently, trailing her fingers in the water.

"Delightful creatures aren't they?" An unfamiliar voice came from behind her, causing Ishiru to start and frighten off the fish with the sharp withdrawal of her fingers. She whirled around to face the stranger, who was still smiling amiably at her. In the bright afternoon light, she could see him with relative clarity, using sounds from all around to determine anything her eyes missed.

He his hair was almost sandy in color, hanging down his back in straight cords of pale yellow, tied off near the end. His eyes were soft gray, watching her in wizened amusement. The dark green markings about his eyes proved him to be a demon, and of high rank. Ishiru's senses told her that the demon was also of great power, just even with Sesshoumaru. But he looked a little too aged to match the formidable dog demon in battle. Laugh lines showed about his mouth and eyes, giving him an astute sense of age. His clothes were of varying yellow-green hues and devoid of armor, opting to the fashion atypical of the local shogun.

Ishiru stood slowly. This demon did not seem terribly hostile. But should he prove a danger, she was negligently devoid of any weapon. She straightened, looking at the demon with a level stare.

"Who are you?" She said, finding the direct approach much simpler than dancing about it with florid word patterns. The old demon smiled politely at her.

"I can see that the western lord has taught you well. You sound just like him. I am Ryuuji, Lord of the Southern Province." Ishiru bowed politely, as she was ought to given that she had no official title or lands to call her own.

"I assume you are here to see the western lord?" She said, turning slightly towards the fortress. "I shall fetch hi-"

"That is unnecessary Ishiru." Sesshoumaru said, already halfway down the pathway towards them. "Had you been paying more attention, you would already know as much." He scolded gently. Ishiru gave him a look, putting a hand on her hip.

"It wouldn't matter if I did or not since you constantly mask your presence, whether or not you're at home." She said wryly. A chuckle sounded from behind her and Ishiru turned to see Ryuuji standing just in back of her. The aged demon put a hand on her shoulder.

"You're quite right my dear. He is rather fastidious about such things." He said good-naturedly, then looked up at Sesshoumaru, who's expression had yet to change, par usual. "It is good to see that you are well Sesshoumaru. That retainer of yours could be heard searching for you for a week after the destruction of that insidious half-breed. If I did not know you as well as I do, I would have worried."

"Likewise Ryuuji. It has indeed been some time since I saw you last. However, I take it that this is not a social visit?" Sesshoumaru replied, Ishiru watching their conversation from her lower vantage point. (Lower because she was about a head and a half shorter than the both of them)

"Always to the point." Ryuuji said mildly. "Alas, you are right. I come on a business matter… Although, I suppose one might call it a matter of social business." Ryuuji gestured towards the rock garden that Ishiru had been reclining on minutes before. "Shall we sit?" When Sesshoumaru made no move to comply, Ryuuji approached the rocks and slowly sat down. "Suit yourself. I'm afraid in my age it is rather difficult to spend all of one's time standing."

'How the devil does he keep his position as lord if he's so weak?' Ishiru thought incredulously.

"Weakness of the body does not necessarily mean weakness of the jyaki." Ryuuji said gently. He chuckled at Ishiru's stunned expression. "Forgive me my dear but when you think so loudly it is quite difficult indeed not to overhear." Ishiru blushed and stepped back a pace, a new respect for the demon growing in her despite her embarrassment.

"Ishiru, go to the orchards." Sesshoumaru said, giving the gardens a brief nod of indication. "I will come fetch you when Ryuuji and I have finished talking." Ishiru nodded and hurried off, glad for the escape route. Once the demon girl was out of earshot, Sesshoumaru turned to his old friend.

"What social business have you come on account of?" He asked, moving to stand near the dragon demon, but refraining from sitting. Ryuuji sighed, running a hand through his slippery, almost water-like hair.

"The lords and ladies of the various regions are not blind to your actions here, however hard you try to conceal them. They have all felt various vexations from that hanyou you slew. And that young demoness of yours, she has drawn herself quite a bit of attention."

"What is your point?"

"They wish to hold a Gathering, to celebrate the death of that half-breed and introduce this demoness to their court."

"I do not attend court functions. Neither ought those who are under my household and rule." Sesshoumaru said, his voice for once showing his distain.

"They do not see it as simply as you do, my friend." Ryuuji said. "The island lord and Northern lord are both unmated. And the prospect of power in such a lovely package is hard for them to resist."

Sesshoumaru's hackles rose a fraction at Ryuuji's words. Ishiru was his! And only his! He had vowed to himself that he would make her his mate after the final battle with Naraku, but he had kept his emotions locked away for so long that it was hard to show affection even now when it was so crucial. There was no way he would let that impudent island princeling have her! Nor would he let her fall prey to the lord of the north, who was renowned for being even colder than the great Sesshoumaru, and still managing to lure any woman he pleased into his bed.

"Not only that," Ryuuji continued. "But that mountain princess and queen of cats are also after romance. Not with your demoness, her name is Ishiru yes? But with you my friend." Sesshoumaru scoffed at that.

"That is not news to me Ryuuji. That fire-headed feline has been a nuisance for longer than I would care to keep track of. And that mountain demoness has had her eyes on these lands for longer. Why should I pay any heed to it now?"

"Because they are aware of Ishiru's availability, and see her as a threat. It is their belief, as I understand it, that if they get her out of the picture you will settle for one of them."

"I shall attend no Gathering. Nor shall Ishiru." Sesshoumaru said curtly. "Let them squabble about themselves as they please. The western lands shall have no part in it."

"If it were that simple, my friend, I would not have come here to discuss it with you." Ryuuji said, looking at Sesshoumaru with a demeanor more serious than he had worn thus far. "Protocol explicitly dictates that you host the Gathering. It was your victory, and it is your ward whom is to be presented. You are already out of favor amongst your fellow lords. If you ignore yet another custom and favor you have within the east and northern lands will dissipate. They are traditionalists. They hate it that you shrug off their practices as if they were created to be tossed about at your leisure."

"Such is so. This Sesshoumaru does as he pleases."

"I know that my friend. I am not amongst the ranks of the traditionalists. I find their functions rather tiresome myself. I am only telling you the truth about how they see you. Should you disregard this custom, you will be but a step away from war.

"Now before you go about telling me that you could handle a war, I must tell you that I cannot. Should the lands go to war, I would have to choose a side as well. Neither my lands nor I could sustain bloodshed. We are not military folk. If you make this decision for only that reason, it would not be made in vain." Ryuuji paused before continuing, grinning slightly. "On top of that, you will be able to avoid at least three decades worth of further courtly functions if you host this one. Even longer if you stay in the background."

"Ishiru is not ready to be presented to court. She has been trained to fight, not to understand and dance about the various social graces of court. Gatherings are held during Midwinter and the first snowfall is due any day. She cannot be prepared by then." Sesshoumaru said, his eyes on the orchards off in the distance.

"I can teach her." Ryuuji said, following the younger lord's gaze for a moment. "If she is not prepared by then, two Gatherings shall be held. One for your victory, and a second in the following year to introduce Ishiru to court."

"Two Ryuuji? You do realize that I am barely willing to consent to one." Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at his friend and ally.

"Alas, backup plans are never as good as the primary." Ryuuji said in mock wistfulness. "I do realize that. But I am also confident that I can teach this girl of yours what she needs to know by that time. "

Authors Corner

And thats what Ive got so far. Instead of ending it sooner, Im going to extend the story a bit. I was tempted to make this a sequal, but it didnt seem to have enough of its own plot to sustain a full story. So itll be something of an epilogue, just with multiple chapters

Reviews are my lifes blood. The more reviews I get, the more encouraged I am to write, plus it gives me inspiration.


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